Follow Nizar's cue and allow the courts to decide

WITH both sides of the political divide engaged in a tit-for-tat battle for control of the state administration, no end to the impasse in Perak seems to be in sight.

Never before has the state constitution and standing orders been so rigorously studied, interpreted and debated by so many people, including constitutional experts and politicians with differing opinions.Since last month, the so-called grey areas in the state constitution and standing orders have been exploited to the full by Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat to back their claims over the silver state.Speaker V. Sivakumar has been relying on Standing Order 89 to justify all his actions, including the suspension of Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and six of his exco members.

The very same standing order was again used to justify his calling for an emergency assembly sitting today and to snub state assembly Secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri over the latter's interpretation of the House rules.
Abdullah had argued that Sivakumar's action to call for an emergency sitting was not legal as it had not received the consent of the sultan of Perak in accordance with the standing orders and the state constitution.Sivakumar said on Sunday: "It is the secretary's duty to follow the speaker's instructions. He does not have the power to interpret the standing orders and the speaker's interpretation is final.

"While his actions are controversial, Sivakumar seems content with the immunity accorded to him under the standing orders.He appears oblivious of the need for the speaker to act fairly towards BN and Pakatan.A senior politician said that this was the heavy price that BN had to pay for overlooking the powers vested in the speaker."After more than 50 years, BN suddenly realised that too much power has been given to the speaker. Hence, the scramble for advice from constitutional experts and lawyers."Pakatan Rakyat will do everything it can to regain control of the state.

Zambry and Abdullah were right when they pointed out that Sivakumar must read the state constitution and the standing orders side by side before coming out with his interpretation.The speaker must not be seen to be interpreting the standing orders to solely benefit Pakatan Rakyat while hiding under the immunity given to him by Standing Order 89.BN and Pakatan Rakyat have their teams of legal advisers poring over every detail of the state constitution and standing orders, and should be allowed to present their cases before the judiciary.Sivakumar has defended his calling of an emergency sitting despite it being challenged as illegal."I think the whole world is going to laugh at us if anyone prevents us from holding the state assembly," he was quoted as saying on Sunday.

The question is whether the whole world has not been laughing over the fiasco.It is high time for everyone to step back and take the cue from former menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, who has decided to allow the courts to decide his fate.
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