Perak politics treads down familiar territory

Mon, 05 Apr 2010

freemalaysiatoday
By Marc Jitab

IPOH: The saga of Perak politics treaded down familiar territory last week. There was a huge police presence and disgruntled Pakatan representatives once again walked out in protest over BN's actions.

“It was complete control of the executive by a menteri besar whose position had to be legitimised by the courts and an illegitimate Speaker who presided over the assembly,” said Nizar Jamaluddin.

For the former Perak menteri besar, the walkout by Pakatan assemblymen was the apex of a slew of incredulous situations Nizar was put into.

“There was utter contempt and total disregard for procedures and the power that be showed no respect for the rule of law. There was no debate on the royal address, and the media was barred, save for one or two,” he said.

“It was apartheid at work. We were made to enter the assembly hall via separate entrances and at a different time. The police were equipped with all sorts of gadgets to scan us upon entering.

“We had no voice in the assembly. The public address system was switched off whenever we attempted to speak and we had to shout to be heard,” said Nizar.

Nizar wrote a letter to Perak chief police officer Zulkifli Abdullah requesting that Pakatan be given an opportunity to explain what it viewed as police inteference in the whole affair.

A copy was also sent to Inspector-General of Policer Musa Hassan in Bukit Aman and the Attorney- General Abdul Gani Patail. Nizar also wrote to the palace requesting a meeting to explain what the elected representatives saw and how they were treated during the fiasco.

Pakatan is also distributing to the public a 16-page booklet giving an accurate picture as to what transpired at the assembly.

“There is a need to properly explain what happened on that day. For example, we were made out to seen as fierce and angry, but there is an explanation,” said Ngeh Koo Ham, Perak DAP chief.

“We wanted to bring up the issue where (R) Ganesan's position as Speaker went against Standing Orders 2, 3 and 4 as he was not elected according to proper procedures.

“Immediately after the short question-and-answer session, we were supposed to debate the royal address, but they did not make time for that and the microphones were switched off whenever we attempted to speak.

“They were just bulldozing through everything, and we were left with no choice but to walk out because we don't approve of such actions.

“All the doors were closed behind us and we had to walk across the centre of the assembly hall to exit, and as we proceeded to do so, we were made to appear as if we were an unruly mob.”

“The reason we held up the placards was to show the media and the world what we wanted to say because we were not given a voice at the sitting. We were never at any point violent,” said Ngeh

“Ganesan was with six bodyguards – three on his left and three on the right, a first in Malaysia. Even the Speaker of Parliament does not have such protection,” said Nizar.

Diverting attention

Outside of the state assembly, the opposition coalition continued its battle on various fronts.

“I know that some sort of memo has been sent to the palace to revoke our (Nizar's and Ngeh's) datukships,” said Nizar.

Said Ngeh: “They trying get the police to charge me with sedition and Nazri is asking the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) to investigate me over remarks I made last week. These are deliberate moves to divert attention.”

Last week, Ngeh had expressed concerns that the police, who were present throughout the proceedings, might take offence and shoot Pakatan representatives for views expressed during the assembly

“In a democracy we use words to fight; we don't resort to physical action. So, certain things we said during the sitting might offend the police, which is why I said what I said,” said Ngeh.

“Now the police want to charge me with sedition over that remark. Then (Minister in the Prime Minister's Department) Nazri (Abdul Aziz) asked the MACC to investigate me, but what does corruption have to do with what I had said?

“This is a just a way to avoid meeting us head-on... So they pit us against the police.. they want to get the palace to remove our datukships.

“They also want to use the MACC to get us into the courts to waste our time, so we would not be able to go about and perform our duties as elected representatives,” added Ngeh

“The assembly is defunct, press freedom curtailed and the whole state is being administered by the three 'frogs' because they hold the trump card and may switch allegiance at any time,” said Nizar.