Perak DAP says Zambry is a ‘kuda kepang’ MB

By Shannon Teoh (The Malaysian Insider)

IPOH, May 13 — Perak DAP continued to step up pressure today on Barisan Nasional's (BN) Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir, and questioned his legitimacy by likening his administration to the artificial horses used in the traditional Malay kuda kepang dance.

The party's state secretary Nga Kor Ming said at a press conference that with only a temporary stay protecting Zambry from a genuine court order removing him as mentri besar, neither the public nor investors would have confidence in dealing with him.

V. Sivakumar, who Pakatan Rakyat (PR) insists is still the assembly speaker, said that with all three "Barisan Nasional-supporting independents" having criminal cases, "they cannot move forward and might as well dissolve."

Sivakumar was referring to the corruption charges that former PKR assemblymen Jamaluddin Radzi and Osman Jailu were still facing in court and a police report filed last week by Aulong assemblyman Yew Tian Hoe that deputy speaker Hee Yit Fong had assaulted him with pepper spray during the May 7 assembly sitting.

Although Hee had at first claimed that it was merely a pen drive or key chain, photographic evidence had appeared in the Chinese press of Hee wielding the spray in the assembly and she has since confessed that it was a pepper spray.

"If the police say they have no evidence, we can present it," he added.

The DAP attacks come just hours after Zambry refused to give a definite answer over whether he is the rightful mentri besar at this point.

Upon entering the state secretariat this morning, he told reporters that "you should not ask me that question. You should ask that question to the court."

"The High Court has already declared him illegal. He only has a stay and this puts his credibility at stake. It is a kuda kepang government because any policy or deal struck will be threatened should his appeal be rejected," said Nga, a PR state executive councillor.

He added that as BN chief Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said that he is leaving decisions over the Perak imbroglio up to Zambry, then the Pangkor assemblyman should "show his statesmanship and call for fresh elections" as "enough is enough and win or lose, the most important thing is democracy in Perak."