Pakatan wants Najib to make first move on Perak talks

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — By Debra Chong | malaysianinsider

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders repeated their stand today that they are willing to have talks with Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resolve the Perak constitutional crisis, and they have set no conditions for the meeting.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the alliance at the PAS headquarters here today, the PR leaders said they were willing to meet Barisan Nasional (BN) with an “open mind.”

But they are waiting for Najib to make the first move.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pointed out that he believes “Najib reads the newspapers” and stressed the joint talks must be held as soon as possible.

Najib had in a press conference this morning said he was willing to hold talks with the opposition and insisted they must not set any “preconditions” to the talks.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said the Umno president should end what he started, pointing out that Najib was the one person responsible for orchestrating the Perak power grab in February as he was then the state party chief.

Lim pointed out Najib was the prime minister and should take the initiative to hold the meeting as the Perak political deadlock, now entering its fourth month, “has brought infamy and shame to Malaysia worldwide.”

He also noted the increasing voices within BN supporting PR’s view that fresh elections was the only way forward.

PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang said the resolution cannot be one-sided, adding that in a democracy, “the people is the highest court.”

While the alliance leaders maintained that fresh elections was the only way forward, they also felt that the constitutional question of who is the lawful mentri besar of Perak should be left to continue its course in the courts.

Lim added the Court of Appeal order last Tuesday only stayed the High Court declaration that Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was the real Perak MB.

“It did not overturn the decision of the High Court,” he pointed out, adding that BN’s Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir does not have the right to “gatecrash” the MB's office and usurp the powers and duties of the state chief executive.

Lim said Zambry should vacate the MB's office immediately.