The importance of the Nizar vs Zambry court case goes far beyond Perak and Umno's bid to hold on to its power grab in the state.
The matter of contention here is whether Nizar was rightfully deprived of his post by the sultan and Zambry legally appointed.
No doubt this case will be appealed up to the Federal Court. If the final judgment favours Zambry then Malaysia has crossed a legal and constitutional rubicon which throws into doubt the concept of constitutional monarchy in the country.
It means that the Agong and the sultans are given the power to dismiss the prime minister or chief ministers without going through parliament or assembly proceedings but by merely professing their opinion that the incumbent has lost the confidence of the majority.
As this alleged loss of confidence is not put to the test in the House, there is no way to dispute the opinion of His Majesty.
Hence by implication, the PM and chief ministers hold their office at the pleasure of the royalty or state governors.
Will we then cross the line between constitutional monarchy and absolute monarchy? This court case must be allowed to proceed without interference from the executive.
Trying to influence a favourable decision got Zambry for the sake of holding on to power in Perak is shortsighted as such power accorded to the royalty may be used against Umno in the future.
MB Zambry, if you would want to be a courageous and well-respected leader, you would not have accepted characters like the three crossovers that came to your side.
The people will have more respect for you and may even vote you in large numbers and give you a better mandate had you been wise and magnanimous enough to say ‘no’ to crossovers.
Even if there was pressure were from the federal BN leaders, you should have said ‘no’ and supported the call for a fresh mandate. With this wisdom and humility, you would have done well.
MB Zambry, with all due respect to you, the people want trustworthy and honest political leaders - not a bunch of hypocrites who are just waiting to get their large exco allowances, big cars and power to command the people.
By you accepting these kind of hypocrites, it makes the task of BN being able to cleanse itself become even harder.
Be wise and show that you are a leader who will always be respected like Nelson Mandela or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that are your inspirations.
If there is a re-election in Perak, I hope Pakatan has already resolved the issue of who should contest and for what seats.
Please ensure that this is carried out smoothly and without any sign of bickering.
The harmonious spirit should prevail and the coalition should portray a professional and capable team to lead Perak.
Any sign of weakness in this coalition will damage the rakyat’s confidence and they will elect BN.
The rakyat are pragmatic people who want their welfare and the state economy properly handled.
War planning should already be started and relationship between the parties cemented to act as one voice.
I hope Sultan Azlan will be wise enough to remedy his previous mistake. He should know very well that in a democracy, the will of the people is supreme.
He (Sultan Azlan) should also very well know how the support of the 2 ex-PKR Adun were obtained by BN.
It is well known to all that they were both trapped into an act of corruption and then enticed to accept a deal to support BN in order to save themselves from prosecution.
The belief that BN has a majority in the Perak state assembly is, therefore, seriously defective. I am alarmed that the sultan can ignore this basic fact.
The rakyat, are no ex-lord presidents but they all know this simple fact. The rakyat are, therefore, very angry with the sultan on this, I am sure.
To me, I agree completely that the ball is now at the Sultan’s court so to speak. It is only right that the Sultan undo the mess he had done in the first place to Perak and its democracy.
I beg the DYMM Sultan to please step in as soon as possible to settle this matter.
I am a Perakian residing in Sarawak. People laugh at me when I mention my home state. I can’t understand why the BN guys are so greedy for power.
Malaysiakini
16/05/09
The matter of contention here is whether Nizar was rightfully deprived of his post by the sultan and Zambry legally appointed.
No doubt this case will be appealed up to the Federal Court. If the final judgment favours Zambry then Malaysia has crossed a legal and constitutional rubicon which throws into doubt the concept of constitutional monarchy in the country.
It means that the Agong and the sultans are given the power to dismiss the prime minister or chief ministers without going through parliament or assembly proceedings but by merely professing their opinion that the incumbent has lost the confidence of the majority.
As this alleged loss of confidence is not put to the test in the House, there is no way to dispute the opinion of His Majesty.
Hence by implication, the PM and chief ministers hold their office at the pleasure of the royalty or state governors.
Will we then cross the line between constitutional monarchy and absolute monarchy? This court case must be allowed to proceed without interference from the executive.
Trying to influence a favourable decision got Zambry for the sake of holding on to power in Perak is shortsighted as such power accorded to the royalty may be used against Umno in the future.
MB Zambry, if you would want to be a courageous and well-respected leader, you would not have accepted characters like the three crossovers that came to your side.
The people will have more respect for you and may even vote you in large numbers and give you a better mandate had you been wise and magnanimous enough to say ‘no’ to crossovers.
Even if there was pressure were from the federal BN leaders, you should have said ‘no’ and supported the call for a fresh mandate. With this wisdom and humility, you would have done well.
MB Zambry, with all due respect to you, the people want trustworthy and honest political leaders - not a bunch of hypocrites who are just waiting to get their large exco allowances, big cars and power to command the people.
By you accepting these kind of hypocrites, it makes the task of BN being able to cleanse itself become even harder.
Be wise and show that you are a leader who will always be respected like Nelson Mandela or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that are your inspirations.
If there is a re-election in Perak, I hope Pakatan has already resolved the issue of who should contest and for what seats.
Please ensure that this is carried out smoothly and without any sign of bickering.
The harmonious spirit should prevail and the coalition should portray a professional and capable team to lead Perak.
Any sign of weakness in this coalition will damage the rakyat’s confidence and they will elect BN.
The rakyat are pragmatic people who want their welfare and the state economy properly handled.
War planning should already be started and relationship between the parties cemented to act as one voice.
I hope Sultan Azlan will be wise enough to remedy his previous mistake. He should know very well that in a democracy, the will of the people is supreme.
He (Sultan Azlan) should also very well know how the support of the 2 ex-PKR Adun were obtained by BN.
It is well known to all that they were both trapped into an act of corruption and then enticed to accept a deal to support BN in order to save themselves from prosecution.
The belief that BN has a majority in the Perak state assembly is, therefore, seriously defective. I am alarmed that the sultan can ignore this basic fact.
The rakyat, are no ex-lord presidents but they all know this simple fact. The rakyat are, therefore, very angry with the sultan on this, I am sure.
To me, I agree completely that the ball is now at the Sultan’s court so to speak. It is only right that the Sultan undo the mess he had done in the first place to Perak and its democracy.
I beg the DYMM Sultan to please step in as soon as possible to settle this matter.
I am a Perakian residing in Sarawak. People laugh at me when I mention my home state. I can’t understand why the BN guys are so greedy for power.
Malaysiakini
16/05/09
UMNO is pushing the responsibility and the blame to the Sultan.Najib created the mess and now denied any further involvement.
ReplyDeleteThey wash their hands when the situation get unfavourable and this is nothing new to UMNO.