Perak Crisis: Wisdom Has Finally Returned to the Judiciary.

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Quote:

"He is, and was, at all material times the chief minister of Perak"
-Justice Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim.

This is a great judgment. This is the first time the court has restored public confidence in the judiciary."
Lim Kit Siang, Member of Parliament

The Kuala Lumpur High Court declared that BN's Zambry Abd Kadir is NOT the legitimate menteri besar of Perak. Justice Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim then proclaimed Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful Perak menteri besar.

The judge said if the Sultan of Perak had wanted to order Nizar's resignation, he should have called the assembly to table a motion of no-confidence against PAS leader. He said that a new menteri besar could NOT be appointed as the office had not been vacated.

Zambry's lawyer Cecil Abraham's application for a stay of proceedings pending an appeal was also rejected by the court.

Zambry’s lawyers are expected to make a beeline for the Court of Appeal tomorrow morning to obtain a stay of execution of the High Court ruling. But till then, Nizar IS the MB of Perak. For at least 19 hours, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin is the legitimate Mentri Besar of Perak.

Nizar looked stunned when the judge announced the decision and even later, when his peers from PR, including PAS’s Datuk Mustafa Ali, PKR’s Azmin Ali and the DAP’s Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, rushed forward to hug him and his team of lawyers.

The state has been in a political impasse since February after Sultan Azlan Shah urged Nizar to step down and appointed Zambry as the menteri besar.

The sultan's decision was based on the defection of three Pakatan elected representatives to become BN-friendly independents.

Nizar's lawyers previously argued in the court that if he got the declaration, he would seek a fresh mandate to resolve the political deadlock.

After the decision, Nizar said that he would be seeking an audience with the sultan in Ipoh immediately to dissolve the state assembly and pave way for a state election.

Pakatan Rakyat's ousted menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has urged Barisan Nasional's Zambry Abd Kadir and six executive councillors to vacate their posts with immediate effect.

However, BN could still have the upper hand with regards to the state assembly.While the court has not recognised Zambry's appointment as menteri besar, the appointment of new state assembly speaker R Ganesan is still valid.

In view of this, Ganesan could call for an emergency sitting where a motion of no-confidence would be moved against Mohammad Nizar.

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The Bar Council said that the decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to rule that Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin is the legitimate mentri besar of Perak was the RIGHT decision and that it throws the validity of Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir’s actions over the past few months into doubt.

Council president Ragunath Kesavan told The Malaysian Insider:

“It was the right decision and the only decision the court could make.

I have always said that under the state and federal constitutions, the Sultan has the power to appoint but not the power to remove the mentri besar. The mentri besar can only be removed via a vote of no confidence or resign.

It was a brave decision but I don’t think he’ll be punished.”

After several court decisions related to the Perak political crisis had favoured the Barisan Nasional (BN), there was widespread questioning of the independence of the judiciary.

The ruling today by Judge Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim took many by surprise, including Nizar.

Ragunath declined to comment if the ruling was indicative of the independence of the judiciary, only saying that the ruling was made according to the law.