Soon after the General Elections on March 8, 2008, all the Pakatan Perak state assemblymen signed letters to convince the Sultan of Perak that they agreed to work as a team to administer the state.
Three of them, two from PKR and one from DAP, now went back on their word of honour, promising to work with another team. So how good are those original letters, and how good are those signed in less than a year? How can these people be trusted again? In the old days, a hot-headed Sultan would have given each of them a tight slap before anything else.
With a thin majority of 3, of which 2 are being charged for corruption, it leaves only 1 making the razor-thin simple majority if the 2 were convicted. Thus, the sole state assemblyman of Jelapang, Hee Yit Foong, has to bear the anger of the people in Perak, particularly those in her constituency.
Today, at a Pusing coffeeshop, we were told that her house was not only pelted with stones but dead cats and chickens. I bet she would not dare to go home under such circumstances. Generally, the most reasonable opinion seems to be that for whatever grievances she had about the state DAP leadership, the right thing to do is to resign as an ADUN, or if that seems too drastic, at least be a real Independent and not get involved with another coalition to form the state government. As it is, she is left to bear the brunt of the people's wrath.
According to Khoo Kay Peng:
Coup D'etat in Perak
A take on the Constitution by another royalty politician, TengkuRazaleigh,:
"The Constitution is the highest law of the land. It is the foundation and source of legal authority, and the Rulers are sworn to protect and uphold it."
"Acording to the Constitution, Dato’ Seri Nizar Jamaluddin is Menteri Besar until he resigns of his own accord, or is removed by a vote of no-confidence in a formal sitting of the assembly. The Constitution makes no provision for his removal by any other means, including by petitions or instructions from any other authority."
He added, " [a] legitimate constitutional government draws all its authority from the consent of the people and only from that consent. The people consent because it is their government formed according to their constitution, whose leaders they have chosen through free and fair elections."
The present government was brought down through none of the above -not through a vote of no confidence or elections. Yet, the state secretary has asked the MB and his executive councillors to vacate their office and make use of the police FRU to barricade the administrative building. If this is not a coup d'etat, what it is? Coup d'etat is the sudden unconstitutional overthrow of a government.
Kim Quek has his own take in support of Pakatan:
Perak constitutional crisis from misinterpretation of words? (Urgent appeal to Sultan to re-look)
Friday, 06 February 2009
Is it possible that a slight difference in wording between the state constitution of Perak and the federal constitution pertaining to the loss of confidence of mentri besar/prime minister has misled the Sultan of Perak into thinking that the constitutional requirement necessitating the Mentri Besar to resign has been fulfilled?
Judging from the Sultan’s statement explaining his decision to appoint a new mentri besar, that seems to be the case. Let me quote the relevant paragraph of the Sultan’s statement explaining why Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin must step down:
“After meeting all the 31 assemblymen, DYMM Paduka Seri Sultan of Perak was convinced that YAB Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the State Assembly members”.
This statement would have been a correct interpretation of the constitution if applied to the Prime Minister, but an incorrect interpretation, if applied to the Mentri Besar. This is because the loss of confidence of the majority is prescribed differently in the two constitutions (relevant parts of the constitutions are shown at the end of this article). Under the federal constitution, the loss of confidence refers to “members of the House of Representatives” whereas under the state constitution, it refers to “the Legislative Assembly”. This means that while the ascertainment of loss confidence can conducted outside Parliament (such as collective appearance before the Agung) in the federal case, it cannot be repeated in state case. In the state case, the loss of confidence must be ascertained within the state assembly, meaning through a vote of no confidence in the state assembly.
The reason why I said the Sultan could have been misled is that in his statement extracted above, he mentioned “the confidence of the majority of the State Assembly members”. Notice the statement refers to “State Assembly members”, and not to “State Assembly”.
Under the circumstances, the Mentri Besar was right when he said that he was legally obliged to step down only when a motion of no confidence on him has been passed in the state assembly, but not otherwise.
And since the Mentri Besar has not resigned, any appointment of another Mentri Besar will be ultra vires the state constitution.
The swearing-in of another Mentri Besar is only few hours away from now (at 1530 hrs). Perhaps His Royal Highness can spare a few minutes to take another look at the two constitutions, so as to avert a major constitutional crisis?
The relevant extracts from the two constitutions are as follows:
Federal constitution: Article 43 (4): “If the Prime Minister ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives, then, unless at his request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament, the Prime Minister shall tender the resignation of the Cabinet.”
Perak state constitution: Artikel XVI(6): “If the Mentri Besar ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the Legislative Assembly, then unless at his request His Royal Highness dissolves the Legislative Assembly, he shall tender the resignation of the Executive Council”.
Kim Quek
From the above description, I can see also the different situations - soon after the GE and now - the former when the State Assembly was already dissolved and the latter when it has yet to be dissolved.
I think Najib, in his eagerness to show his mettle, played a major role in this state of affairs. How could we explain the drama so soon after his taking over Perak Umno leadership from 'weak' Tajol Rosli? If this is his brand of politics, then we can expect worse to come when he assumes Prime Minister post.
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