May 12, 3009 By SYED AZHAR
KOTA BARU: Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has urged the Sultan of Perak to dissolve the Assembly to prevent the political imbroglio in the state from spiralling out of control.
In a blog posting on Monday, he noted that he had written on Feb 7 that Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin was still the legal mentri besar despite the takeover by Barisan Nasional.
He had said then that according to the state constitution, Nizar was the mentri besar until he resigned of his own accord or was removed by a vote of no confidence in a formal sitting of the Assembly.
The Perak constitution makes no provision for his removal by any other means, including by petitions or instructions from any other authority, he had written then.
“Today, after three months and yet more shameful scenes, the High Court affirmed the same elementary principle, and held that Nizar has been and remains the mentri besar,” Tengku Razaleigh wrote on Monday,
The High Court also ordered Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir and his executive officers to vacate their offices, and rejected an application from Zambry for a stay of proceedings pending an appeal.
Tengku Razaleigh urged the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, to dissolve the Assembly.
“This is the decent thing to do, but also the only way out of a crisis which has already spiralled out of Perak, damaged the rule of law, compromised the judiciary, the police and the state civil service, and damaged the monarchy in public opinion,” he said.
He said the Dr Zambry’s administration had been illegitimate all along and all decisions and contracts were made without legal status.
“The cascade of illegalities we warned of must now be unwound painfully. This includes the deplorable events of May 7 in Ipoh. It means the resolution to replace the Speaker was brought by an illegal state government,” he added.
In his no holds barred style, Tengku Razaleigh also said that the monarchy itself has been embarrassed by this episode, as well as by “a systematic programme by some to inflame this issue into one of race and treason.”
“Such attempts only hurt the institutions they claim to protect, and they hurt Umno and Barisan Nasional.
“The real issue has always been the Constitution and the Rule of Law, and the monarchy is protected in its role of upholding the primacy of the Constitution.
“Umno is not well served by leaders who place short-term political objectives above the Constitution,” he added.
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