Published February 6, 2009

Crisis looms as Perak chief minister declines call to quit

State's sultan rejects chief minister's request to dissolve legislative assembly

By S JAYASANKARAN
IN KUALA LUMPUR

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A CRISIS is looming in Perak after its chief minister declined to accede to the state ruler's request to step down, to pave the way for a Barisan Nasional-led government. And this follows the ruler's refusal to dissolve the legislative assembly as requested by the chief minister.

Mr Nizar: Sultan says he has lost confidence of most state assembly members

A statement issued by the palace said that after meeting all the 28 BN assembly members and three independents supportive of BN, Sultan Azlan Shah was convinced that Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaludin, from the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia, had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the state assembly members.

If Mr Nizar does not resign his post together with the members of the state executive council, 'the posts of menteri besar and state executive councillors are considered vacant', the statement said.

Mr Nizar, however, remained defiant, saying that he would not resign and described what has transpired as a coup. 'We are not rejecting the decision of the sultan,' he said. 'We are pleading for dissolution of the assembly.'

Perak's state government, which has been led by the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition since March, collapsed on Wednesday after three of its representatives resigned from their parties to become independents that are 'friendly' towards BN.

Mr Nizar then attempted to get the sultan's consent to dissolve the assembly and convene snap polls but Sultan Azlan Shah deferred his decision until he could meet BN representatives yesterday.

The standoff is unprecedented and it isn't at all clear where this could lead to. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has requested a meeting between opposition leaders and the sultan to convince him that dissolution was necessary. But that may not happen as the new BN government could be sworn in by then.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday announced that Zambry Kadir (Pangkor state assemblyman) would be the new Perak menteri besar.

Meanwhile, the police have sealed the state secretariat building and told all Pakatan Rakyat leaders to leave. To compound matters, a protest rally was planned for late yesterday.

The dispute has also gone to court. The assembly speaker had declared previously that by resigning from their parties, the three representatives had also vacated their seats because they had all signed undated letters of resignation after being elected.

The Election Commission overruled him, however, and concluded that they still had their seats and so by-elections were unnecessary. The Pakatan Rakyat government is seeking a declaration that the seats are vacant.

The showdown has serious implications for governance in Perak state and could also spread instability to other states with slim majorities. Governing the state will also be much harder: a BN government would have only one non-Malay representative - excluding the one Chinese independent - which is problematic for a state that is almost half non-Malay.

More importantly, the continued political squabbling is distracting for a federal government attempting to counter the effects of the world economic crisis.

Mr Najib is also finance minister and he has been at the forefront of the Perak crisis since it sparked over a week ago. And critics of the crossovers are not just Opposition figures. Former premier Mahathir Mohamad poured scorn on the decision to woo two independents facing corruption charges to BN while former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah warned that BN was inviting public scorn for toppling the state government this way.

Tengku Razaleigh could be right: a majority of commentators on websites, including the Sultan of Perak's own, slammed the decision not to hold fresh polls and urged the sultan to respect the wishes of the people.