Police intrusion in Perak assembly within law
(The Malaysian Insider) KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein defended in Parliament today the police for physically removing “ousted” Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar from the chaotic May 7 Perak state assembly, claiming it was done according to the law.
The minister reasoned that Sivakumar's refusal to barge from the speaker's seat despite having been legitimately replaced by the Barisan Nasional (BN) majority in the state assembly had prompted police action.
"What the police did was in accordance to the law," said Hishammuddin in reply to parliamentary opposition leader and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar's question on the matter.
"Because the assembly was chaotic and to prevent any untoward incidents from happening and to ensure peace prevails, the new Speaker (Datuk R. Ganesan) had ordered the police to remove Sivakumar," he added.
Hishamuddin then said police action that day had positive results, with peace being restored in the chaotic assembly which, to him, was caused by the Pakatan Rakyat members themselves.
This was followed by an attempt by PR to blame the fracas — via its anti-BN propaganda conveyed through the alternative media like Youtube — on the ruling coalition, he said.
"We can't put out selective recordings (on Youtube) to portray a distorted fact," he said, adding that the Hansard recording of the May 7 sitting had proved that it was PR that initiated the ruckus and not BN.
The home minister's reply, however, doesn't abdicate the root issue raised by PR leaders in the first place — the question of the legitimacy of Ganesan as the speaker and thus the validity of his order for police interference.
Perak DAP chief and ousted executive councillor Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham at a press conference later went on the defensive and rubbished Hishammuddin's answer as "inaccurate" and "false."
Ngeh argued that Ganesan's appointment as the speaker was illegal, claiming that the latter was appointed through an illegitimate "sub-assembly" held by BN in the same sitting which recognises Sivakumar as the valid speaker.
Hishammuddin, however, believes that the fact that PR leaders have not taken any legal action against him and the police reflected their unsubstantiated claims.
"Since May 7, there has been no legal action taken against me and the police," he said, daring the opposition to do so if they believe they are on the right side.
"We cannot have a selective memory syndrome. If they can rely on the court to decide on the status of the mentris besar, why not take this issue to the court as well," he added.
