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As a constitutional monarchy practicing parliamentary democracy, it is the Sultan of Perak who dissolves the assembly under the advice of the Mentri Besar. Kim Quek
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in a press conference on Feb 4 that though the Perak State Assembly is tied between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional at 28 vs 28, he had the support of three ‘friendly independents’ for the Barisan Nasional to form a majority state government. Najib’s claim of the majority of three is fallacious, because his so called ‘friendly independent’ former PKR assemblymen Jamaluddin Radzi and Osman Jailu had already resigned on Feb 1. When Speaker V. Sivakumar received their letters of resignation on Feb 1, he announced on the same day that he had accepted the resignations and declared: “They have stepped down as state assemblypersons with immediate effect”. Hence, these two men legally ceased to be assemblymen upon the speaker’s announcement. Subsequent announcement by the Election Commission on Feb 4 that these two men remained assemblymen had no legal effect on their status, as the legal authority to accept resignation and hence determine assemblymen’s legal status within the assembly is vested with the speaker and not with the EC. Under our laws, only a conclusive judgment in the court of law can restore the assemblymen status of these two ex-PKR members. As for the third so-called ‘independent’ ex-DAP assemblywoman Hee Yit Foong, she was reported to have resigned from the state assembly on Feb 4. Sin Chew Daily dated Feb 5 reported that Speaker Sivakumar faxed a statement to the press at 5 pm on Feb4 stating that he received Hee’s resignation letter on the same day at 8:10 am and that he had already accepted her resignation, and he wouldl soon contact the EC to arrange for a by-election within 60 days. With this latest resignation from Hee, Perak assembly is now tied with a 28 vs 28 stalemate. This is a classic case of a political impasse that is invariably resolved by dissolving the assembly for a fresh election. As a constitutional monarchy practicing parliamentary democracy, it is the Sultan of Perak who dissolves the assembly under the advice of the Mentri Besar. Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin has already an audience with his Highness and is waiting for his consent for the dissolution. In a country practicing democracy, consent for dissolution on legitimate ground is rarely withheld from the constitutional head, in keeping with the spirit of democracy which dictates that the people must be final arbiter as to who should form the government. In the current Perak case, withholding consent to the incumbent, or worse, appointing a new mentri besar from the opposition at this time could plunge the state into dangerous and prolong political turmoil when current political ambience is characterized by daily dramas of assemblymen “disappearing” or “hopping” or “double-hopping” or even “kidnapping”. A wise decision from the Sultan at this critical juncture of history will go a long way to enhance the people’s faith in our system of constitutional monarchy, besides restoring stability to Perak, and improve the political ambience to the nation.
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