Nazri labels Sivakumar a ‘boy speaker’

(The Star) – Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar has been labelled a “boy speaker” by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz.

“He does not know what he is doing. He is not fit to be given such a heavy responsibility,” said Nazri.

“The meeting under the tree is invalid. Everything is not done in a proper manner. As I have said before, the whole episode in Perak is a comedy and a mockery.

“It does not surprise me to see the episode of holding a meeting under the tree,” he said.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said it was unfair to hold a meeting when Barisan Nasional representatives had already been “red-carded by the referee”.

“If you want to have a friendly match with each team having 11 players, is it fair for the referee to issue five red cards even before it starts?

“Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen deciding to have their meeting under a tree is a ploy to keep the momentum going for them so that they can get public sympathy,” he said, adding that any assembly meeting must be held in accordance with the state constitution.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman said: “Never before has a State Assembly been held under a tree like in an uncivilised nation.

“This shows that the Opposition does not show respect to the status of the assembly as a noble institution and it is also an insult to the Sultan of Perak. The Opposition has shown its true colours by implementing the laws of the jungle and it will do anything just so it can rule.”

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim called for a fresh state election in Perak.

“Pakatan Rakyat’s stand is to dissolve the State Assembly and seek a fresh mandate from the people. We have strong reasons for that as the situation is not under control. You have a state building being locked.

“Let the people decide who their rep is, including the Mentri Besar. We risk losing the mandate. But we are brave enough to face them,” Anwar told a press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Veteran lawyer Karpal Singh said the Sultan of Perak’s consent was not necessary for Sivakumar to convene an emergency meeting.

“This is because it was an emergency meeting and not the start of the session for the State Assembly,” said Karpal Singh, who is also the DAP national chairman.

“It also does not matter where the assembly is held because the Speaker has the right to declare any place as the venue for an assembly.

“Holding the assembly under the tree is perfectly all right,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Karpal Singh said that for example a judge could declare a hospital ward as an “open court of law” if a patient could not attend proceedings.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Speaker should have been allowed to convene the meeting, even if a decision was still pending in court on the matter.