Monday, March 2, 2009

High political drama in Perak


It's high drama in Perak again. The police have started to station FRU personnel near the State Secretariat building ahead of the political fight tomorrow. Road blocks have been set up. The Perak State Secretary office has issued a circular informing all staff to cancel all appointments at the building tomorrow as the doors would be shut. The state secretariat, in short, is as good as shut tomorrow. Perak exco member Mohd Zahir has served notice on Speaker Sivakumar, accusing him of abusing his power to commit contempt by showing disloyalty to the Sultan while the MB is seeking a court ruling that the Speaker's suspension against him and the exco members is unconstitutional. The Speaker has called for an emergency state assembly meeting which the BN is saying is illegal. The political showdown is certainly going to put the state administration to a stand still. Expect plenty of fireworks in Ipoh tomorrow.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

At the March08 GE, I was not sure whether I did the right thing by voting for the unwieldy coalition of PAS/DAP/PKR, now called Pakatan Rakyat. The events that unfolded since then, culminating now with the power grab by UMNO in Perak, have put my mind to rest that I did the right thing. UMNO has already lost all sense of the rule of law, and have gone beyond corruption to even breaking the constitution. Time for change is long overdue. But we should be realistic that those drunk with power and money will not give it up that easily. The transition will be a tough and chaotic one, and any thoughts of a smooth transition is just a pipe dream. But like all else, there is no change without pain. God, please have mercy on Malaysians. Amen.

Anonymous said...

Institutions breaking down, says Bar Council
By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 2 – The Bar Council is alarmed at the topsy-turvy turn of events taking place in Perak which is fast turning into the battleground for a no-holds-barred fight over who is the lawful head of the state government.

Its president, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan told The Malaysian Insider late today she was “surprised” to learn the Perak police chief had acted so quickly in putting up road blocks around the state legislature building based on a statement put out by the state assembly secretary.

“The secretary does not have the authority to make a legal pronouncement,” she noted, referring to today’s unsigned notice from the state assembly secretary’s office declaring Speaker V. Sivakumar’s planned emergency meeting tomorrow as invalid.

“We are very surprised the police is ignoring the Speaker,” she added.

“Our institutions, that is the courts, the police, et cetera, are being tested and we can judge for ourselves whether they are acting independently or not,” said Ambiga.

“It is so obvious they are not,” she added.

She observed that what is going on in the state “shows a total breakdown in relation to the structures and sanctity of the legislature”.

“It shows a violation of the role of the Speaker and an intrusion into the processes of the legislative assembly,” she elaborated, noting that the Sspeaker, much like the status of the Attorney General, should also be seen as an institution in its own right.

Anonymous said...

The Pakatan Rakyat state governments in the 5 states should have long ago replaced all the state secretaries and other key positions. By trying to be fair, the PR state governments have been taken advantage of by UMNO. Sometimes you have to be a bit ruthless when it comes to putting your own people in place in key positions. NO choice. This is a very cruel world. YOu just got to sideline all of UMNO's little napoleons. Why did the PR Perak state govt take so long to get rid of this very bias umno underling state secretary?

Samuel Goh Kim Eng said...

UNVEIL JUSTICE & LET GOOD SENSE PREVAIL

Let's all pray for good sense to prevail
Hopefully with nothing unfortunate to assail
Only let justice like a flowing stream unveil
All matters previously hidden from head to tail

(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 020309
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Mon. 2nd Mar. 2009.

Anonymous said...

I cannot stand the kind of statements that come out of the mouth of Zambry. He makes such stupid statements. How can the Pakatan's holding an emergency meeting be a national security threat? Hello?? DO you see the Pakatan people tying bombs around their waist??? And this guy ran to UK to listen to a QC??? Hello?? Is he living in the 1800-1900 ?? Off to London to see the queen??? Hello, Zambry, your Queen is in Malaysia!!!

rainbow said...

WCW,
As usual you r just reporting what is happening. At least we get to read an open letter from RPK to show support for MB Nizar. Being one of the chief in the star, so what is your views since this is your blog?

Ti Lian Ker said...

Calling..calling..calling...Emergency Emergency Emergency! There must be a stop to this... A solution..Who says there's fairness in love and war??

What will be the final outcome?

Anonymous said...

when state assemblies are locked, dictatorship rules

Anonymous said...

The Perak Sultan should save his state the misery, and just dissolve the state govt to pave the way for fresh election. This impasse is very unhealthy for Perak, which was already an economic backwater to start with. A lot of the youngsters in Perak have already migrated to KL to escape unemployment. With all this chaos, no businessman dares to even supply anything to the Perak state govt, for fear that he is not going to get paid.

Anonymous said...

Let democracy rules above all else...let the people decide.

amoker said...

If Syed hamid said that police can only come in to help if the parliament speaker ask for it, why is the police in Perak when the speaker did not request for it?

They are bending a lot of rules to achieve the political end.