It’s MB vs MB, Nizar files suit against Zambry

(The Star) – The political battle in Perak moved to the legal front with former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin filing a suit to challenge the legitimacy of his successor Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and the new state government.

In his suit filed at the High Court here at 11.30am yesterday, Nizar, who was accompanied by his former state executive councillors and supporters, claimed that the swearing-in of Dr Zambry last week was unconstitutional and illegal.

He wanted the court, by way of judicial review, to declare him as the legitimate Mentri Besar and for an injunction to stop Dr Zambry or his agents from carrying out the duties and functions of the Mentri Besar.

The suit only named Dr Zambry as the respondent despite earlier reports that it would include the Sultan of Perak. Sultan Azlan Shah had refused to give his assent to dissolve the State Assembly for fresh elections to be held as requested by Nizar.

The five-page suit, which also asked for “punitive, aggravated and exemplary” damages to be awarded to Nizar, carried supporting affidavits from former Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar and Nizar.

Nizar, who arrived at the court in the black Toyota Camry official car allocated to him when he was Mentri Besar, told the crowd that the suit had been allotted file number “MK 25-25-09” which he described as nombor keramat (blessed number).

“We have come to Kuala Lumpur for the democratic right to be returned to the Perak people and for fresh state elections to be called.

“Whatever we have done so far such as returning the official cars and vacating the official residence and the keys to our offices, do not in any way mean that we have given up or are defeated in our claim,” he said, adding that the former exco members were merely following the rules and regulations as instructed by the State Secretary.

Nizar said he was advised by the legal team that it would be “better and nicer” to file the suit in Kuala Lumpur and promised to continue with his work as “Mentri Besar” while waiting for the case to be heard.

“We will still be conducting our work as Mentri Besar and exco members. In fact, we have more work to do now as we have to lodge reports about corruption in several actions carried out by the new state government,” he said, adding that there was also no disagreement with DAP chairman Karpal Singh who had insisted on naming Sultan Azlan Shah in the suit.

Nizar’s lawyer Leong Cheok Keng said although the consensus among the legal team was for the suit to be filed in Kuala Lumpur, it was possible for Dr Zambry to apply for the suit to be heard in a court in Perak.

“There is a possibility but we don’t want to speculate,” he said.

None of the Pakatan Rakyat leaders — DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang — were present in court.