Stand-off looms in Ipoh

As the final touches for the opening ceremony of the Perak state legislative assembly are being put in place, there is an obvious air of uncertainty in Ipoh.

Police trucks ferrying riot police were seen whizzing across the city but people are still clueless as to the no-go zones for tomorrow.

No police roadblocks were sighted within the city nor the vicinity of the state assembly hall this afternoon.

However at midnight, there will be police road blocks along major roads leading to state secretariat building.

According to Bernama, all roads leading to the main gate of the building - from Jalan Kuala Kangsar, Jalan Silibin, Jalan Lahat, and Jalan Hospital - will be temporarily closed.

This causes a major concern for the locals as the state secretariat building, which houses the state assembly hall, sits on a major traffic artery and a police cordon will affect rush hour traffic.

As of 5pm today, sitting arrangements in the state assembly are still at status quo. Names of Pakatan state representatives were still placed on the right side of the speaker's chair, which is reserved for the state government of the day.

Rumours are also rife that both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat supporters would turn up in droves.

Their exact rally point is hitherto unknown, except for a special 5am prayer session tomorrow organised by PAS in Manjoi, a few kilometres away from Ipoh town.

It is anybody's guess as to what will actually happen tomorrow, inside and outside the house.

Cards close to chest

Keeping up the suspense is the refusal by both BN and Pakatan to even hint on strategies to be used during the state legislative assembly sitting tomorrow.

Pakatan is expected to bank on speaker V Sivakumar's wide discretionary powers under the standing orders to frustrate any moves by BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir to legitimise his newly-formed government.

However, Zambry would be looking to exploit his majority in the House to remove the hostile speaker and appoint former Sungkai assemblyperson R Ganesan, from the MIC instead.

Zambry was expected to reveal more about BN's plans during his 2pm press conference today but did not make any announcements. Instead, he took questions from reporters from the onset.

Asked on the near certainty that Sivakumar would reject his motion to appoint a new speaker, Zambry said that the motion was lawfully tabled within the 14-day time frame.

"We will not do something unexpected as the speaker had been informed about it... It is up to them to interpret and to say this and that. I only hope that everything will run smoothly according to the order of the day.

"If the motion is rejected by the speaker, we will wait and see," he said, while refusing to reveal any contingency plans.

Zambry ‘no big deal' over seat allotment

On hints by Pakatan leaders that Sivakumar will enforce the suspension on menteri besar and his six executive council (exco) members from participating in the assembly, Zambry said the Federal Court had already overturned the suspension.

"We have heard about the Federal Court decision and we will follow it," he said.

Zambry added that it was "no big deal" if he was made to sit on the left side of the speaker just as long as the sitting proceeds normally and hoped that the speaker would not try to adjourn the sitting indefinitely.

He also refused to comment on former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that the palace had no power to dismiss the chief executive of a state or country.

Two hours later, Sivakumar held a hastily-arranged press conference of his own at his office in the state secretariat building.

Like Zambry, Sivakumar was coy when asked about the possible outcomes of the sitting, including whether he would allow Zambry and his excos to participate, on the role of suspended state assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri and whether Zambry's motion was tabled ahead of the mandatory the 14-day time frame.

"We'll wait for tomorrow," was Sivakumar's oft-repeated reply.

Sivakumar also announced that the latest state assembly sitting agenda revealed that three more motions have been included.

The three motions are for the election of new members for the Public Accounts Committee, Standing Orders Committee and Special Privileges Committee.

"I must stress that I was not informed about this the new motions," he said.

These three committees are currently controlled by Pakatan state representatives.

Raja Nazrin to officiate

Zambry's motion was tabled on April 23 and received by Abdullah Antong. Quizzed on this today, Sivakumar refused to reveal if he had seen the document or whether he was notified about it in time.

Abdullah Antong was suspended twice by Sivakumar for alleged insubordination but the civil servant was the person who issued the notice for the state assembly sitting tomorrow, without earlier informing the speaker, and had also issued a notice on Zambry's motion.

The state assembly secretary has to perform many key roles during the sitting tomorrow, such as taking the minutes.

Meanwhile, state secretariat officials have announced that only 30 seats have been allocated to the press although some 90 special press passes have been issued.

However, these 30 media seats would be used by VIPs during the crucial opening ceremony where there is an expected tussle over which menteri besar will be handing the text of the royal address.

Perak Regent Raja Nazrin Shah will be officiating the state assembly sitting in place of Perak Sultan Raja Azlan Shah.

In a related development, the Ipoh district police have obtained a court order barring any person from holding illegal gatherings within a 500-meter radius of the state assembly.

Malaysiakini
07/05/09