Bar Council Urges Perak Govt To Respect Sultan’s Decision

(Bernama) — The Bar Council has called on the Perak government to abide by the decision of the Perak Sultan for Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and the state executive council members to resign from their posts.

Its president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said she was convinced that Sultan Azlan Shah had made the decision guided by the law and therefore, the decision should not be questioned.

"The question now is whether the Menteri Besar has the majority in the state assembly to govern the state," she told reporters after the presentation of the Certificate in Legal Practice to the recipients by the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, at the Putra World Trade Centre, here, on Thursday.

Mohammad Nizar has refused to step down as Menteri Besar as ordered by Sultan Azlan Shah as he believes that he still legally holds the post under the Perak State Constitution.

This afternoon, the office of the Perak Sultan had issued a media statement informing that Sultan Azlan Shah had ordered Mohammad Nizar to quit his post after he was satisfied that the Menteri Besar no longer had the confidence of the majority of the state assemblymen, following the decision of three Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen to leave their parties and declaring their support for Barisan Nasional.

On the validity of the resignation letters purportedly sent by the two Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen (Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu), Ambiga said the matter could be brought to court.

Based on the court's decision, she added, the Election Commission could decide whether to call for by-elections in the two state constituencies (Behrang and Changkat Jering).