I Am The Menteri Besar Appointed By The Sultan: Zambry

(Bernama) — Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir today again stressed that his position as head of the state government was clear but was made to look otherwise by certain quarters.

"I am the menteri besar appointed by the Sultan of Perak, this is a clear process but some people are twisting it," he told reporters after officiating a state-level nation-building programme today.

Zambry said this to reporters after being asked to comment on queries by the programme participants on his position as menteri besar and that of former Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

He said the matter had been clarified several times but because of certain quarters twisting facts, the perception that there is a constitutional and legal crisis continues to persist.

The Barisan Nasional formed the new Perak government and Zambry was appointed menteri besar after the BN secured the majority in the state assembly when a defector returned to Umno and three opposition members declared themselves independent and threw their support behind BN.

Asked why the Perak legal advisor did not make a statement to clarify the matter from the aspect of the constitution and the law, Zambry said as a civil servant the legal advisor was bound by regulations and could not make a statement to the media.

On the date of the state assembly sitting, he said it would be decided by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah.

"We have six months, it is up to Tuanku Sultan of Perak to determine a suitable time," he said.

The assembly last met in November last year.

Based on the state constitution, the state assembly must sit within six months of the last sitting.

Yesterday, Zambry said he will attend the assembly sitting although Speaker V. Sivakumar had taken action which was considered as not following procedure in suspending and barring him and six state executive councillors from attending the sitting.

Sivakumar, who heads the assembly rights and privileges committee, had announced that Zambry was suspended and barred from the assembly for 18 months and the excos 12 months for contempt of the House.

Sivakumar's action has been disputed by various quarters including DAP chairman Karpal Singh who said the committee's decision could not be enforced unless it was endorsed by the state assembly.