Perak’s political drama heightens
Putting the ball back in the sultan's court
Barring any attempts of forced entry by Zambry and the BN excos into the state assembly house, and any potential ruckus or situation that may thwart the emergency sitting, Nizar will quite easily be given the vote of confidence as MB.
By Deborah Loh, The Nut Graph
THE political drama in Perak, which has escalated from one height to another, is set to spike tomorrow with an emergency state assembly sitting to vote on two motions related to the state's constitutional crisis.
However, even if the emergency sitting is successful, it would not immediately solve the impasse. It would, in fact, be the latest in a series of planned steps by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to turn the matter back to Perak's ruler, Sultan Azlan Shah, in the hopes of forcing a snap poll.
The two motions expected at the emergency sitting are to reaffirm support for the PR's Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak menteri besar, and to seek dissolution of the state assembly.
Speaker V Sivakumar, the DAP assemblyperson for Tronoh, invoked Standing Orders to call for the emergency sitting. As the all-powerful speaker of the state assembly, he is the PR's trump card in the state's political impasse despite the Barisan Nasional (BN) having taken over the state government.
Sivakumar has already flexed his muscles by suspending the BN's Menteri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six executive councillors. They will not be allowed to enter the assembly for the emergency sitting. Neither will the three independents who left the PR to support the BN be allowed into the state assembly, as Sivakumar deems their resignations from their state seats effective.
With 10 representatives on the BN's side out, the numbers in the 59-seat state assembly would be in the PR's favour at 27 to 21. The PR's 28th seat is Sivakumar's, who, as speaker, cannot vote.
