theSun | THURSDAY MAY 14 2009
news without borders
Court to hear Nizar’s application on Monday
by S. Tamarai Chelvi and
Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal
will hear on Monday Datuk Seri
Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s
application to set aside a stay of
execution order on the High Court
decision declaring him the rightful
mentri besar of Perak.
Nizar filed the application at the
Court of Appeal registry at 2.20pm
yesterday through his lawyers
Messrs Leong and Tan.
He is seeking to set aside the stay
of execution order granted to Datuk
Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir by Court
of Appeal judge Datuk Ramli Ali on
Tuesday. Alternatively, he wants the
court to vary the stay order to include
conditional terms, deemed fit and
proper.
In his application, Nizar said a
stay of execution order cannot be
granted for declaratory orders. He
said special circumstances are in
his favour for the court not to grant
the stay order.
In a supporting affidavit filed with
the notice of motion, Nizar said the
Court of Appeal judge had erred
in granting the stay order and the
application was filed to correct the
matter.
He said that before last Monday, he
had never applied for any stay of ex-
ecution order against Zambry because
he did not want to cause political in-
What’s that ... Perak DAP secretary and Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming points to a video
footage that shows an unknown man reaching for an object which, he said, “we suspect to be a gun” during the
scuffle to remove Pakatan Rakyat speaker V. Sivakumar at the state assembly sitting last Thursday. Nga urged the
attorney-general to act on the case. On the alleged pepper spraying incident involving deputy speaker Hee Yit Foong
during the sitting, Nga said the PR assemblymen will furnish the evidence, including a video clip, to the A-G so action
can be taken against her.
Sarawak assembly suspends state DAP chief
KUCHING: The Sarawak Legislative
Assembly yesterday suspended Bukit
Assek assemblyman and Sarawak DAP
chairman Wong Ho Leng for 12 months
for his “camouflage” remark in the as-
sembly last November.
Minutes later, Barisan Nasional as-
semblymen staged a walkout to force
an adjournment of the sitting and
prevent the DAP from tabling a motion
to move a bill.
Wong had used the word “cam-
ouflage” repeatedly when debating
and seeking clarification from Second
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon
Koh during the tabling of the Supple-
MOVE TO SET ASIDE STAY ORDER GRANTED TO ZAMBRY
stability or worsen the constitutional
crisis in Perak.
He had waited for the High Court
proceedings “as usual” and had
intended to respect the “process and
the decisions” of the court.
Nizar said that if the stay was
granted, it would:
» take away his rights and the
High Court order which he had been
waiting for would become ineffec-
tive;
» disturb and prevent the ad-
ministration of Perak to be executed
smoothly and in accordance with the
law;
» allow Zambry to carry out his
responsibilities, duties and functions
illegally;
» confuse the people as to who the
mentri besar is since the High Court
judgment had stated that Nizar is the
rightful mentri besar;
» cause political instability and
the constitutional crisis to become
worse.
Nizar said the mentri besar’s post
is to serve the people and that it is
an “office of trust, which means the
mentri besar is holding the trust for
the people”.
He said the post does not belong
to anyone personally and that nei-
ther Zambry nor himself have any
mentary (2008) Bill 2008.
Speaker Datuk Seri Mohamad Asfia
Awang Nassar said Wong, the opposition
leader, was suspended under Section
14 (1) of the State Legislative Assembly
(Privileges & Powers) Ordinance 2007,
based on the recommendation of the
Committee of Privileges.
Land Development Minister Datuk
Seri Dr James Masing tabled the motion
to suspend Wong, and Tarat assembly-
man Roland Sagah seconded it.
All the 60 BN assemblymen voted in
favour of the suspension against seven
who voted against it.
Wong left the hall accompanied by
personal right to the post.
He said there is no prejudice
towards Zambry if the stay is not
given but if it is given, it would be
prejudice towards him.
In Ipoh, state DAP chairman
Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said Zambry
must not continue to present himself
as the mentri besar because it is con-
tempt of court.
In a statement, he said that
although the Court of Appeal had
granted Zambry a stay of execution,
“it is without a doubt that until the
High Court judgment is reversed
by the Court of Appeal, Zambry re-
mains an illegally appointed mentri
besar”.
He said a stay order merely gives
one an opportunity to get the opinion
of a higher court before the judgment
of the lower court can be enforced.
Ngeh, who is a practising lawyer,
said Zambry should not and cannot
exercise the powers and the privi-
leges of a mentri besar, including
going back to occupy the office of the
mentri besar.
“Zambry also has no power to
reinstate the state secretary and state
legal adviser, who were suspended
by the Pakatan Rakyat state govern-
ment through its exco meeting on
the night of May 11 (before the stay
Violet Yong (DAP-Pending) and Ting
Tze Hui (DAP-Meradong).
Five minutes later, when Chong
Chieng Jen (DAP-Kota Sentosa) ta-
bled a motion to move a bill on land law
reform, most of the BN assemblymen
left the hall, forcing an adjournment to
9am today. It was the first time that BN
assemblymen had staged a walkout.
Deputy Chief Minster Tan Sri Dr
George Chan said it was to show the
Opposition “who is the boss”.
“If BN wants to be naughty, every
time the Opposition wants to talk, we
walk out and they can’t talk,” he told
reporters. – Bernama
order was granted),” he said.
Ngeh also said the statement by
Chief Secretary to the Government
Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan that
action cannot be taken by the state
government against the state sec-
retary and the state legal adviser is
legally flawed.
“The state secretary and the state
legal adviser are federal officers ap-
pointed by the Public Service Com-
mission and the Judicial and Legal
Service Commission, respectively,
but when they are seconded to the
state government, it has the author-
ity over them as their employer,” he
said.
“Therefore, when they acted
against the interest of the state
government, they can be suspended
from their duties pending formal
complaints being lodged against
them with the Public Service Com-
mission and the Judicial and Legal
Service Commission, respectively,
and be dealt with under the Public
Officers (Conduct and Discipline)
Regulations 1993.
“Any other interpretation will
mean that federal officers can lord
over the state governments with
impunity. Therefore, the Pakatan
Rakyat state government has acted
within what is permitted in law.”
briefs
Zambry assures
investors of stability
IPOH: Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr
Zambry Abdul Kadir assured investors
yesterday the state is doing its best
to maintain political and economic
stability despite the impasse be-
tween Barisan Nasional and Pakatan
Rakyat.
He said the BN government has
worked hard to ensure that “business
must go on as usual”, especially in
political stability and economic devel-
opment, since it took over the state
administration in February.
“We are going to focus on the eco-
nomic development of the state,” he told
reporters after chairing a state executive
council meeting.
“There is nothing to worry about.
All investors are welcome to Perak and
we will help them out if there is any
problem.”
Former Terengganu
MB’s aide out on bail
KUALA TERENGGANU: Datuk Dr
Ahmad Ramzi Mohamad Zubir, the
political secretary to former Tereng-
ganu mentri besar Datuk Seri Idris
Jusoh, who was detained yesterday
for investigations into the sending
of threats through SMS, has been
released.
Terengganu deputy police chief
SAC II Hamzah Mohd Jamil said Ah-
mad Ramzi was released on police
bail early yesterday after police
recorded his statement.
He said police seized another
laptop from Ahmad Ramzi’s house
in Kota Damansara, Selangor early
yesterday, in addition to the two
laptops and a modem that were
seized from his house in Kampung
Kubang Parit here on Monday.
Hamzah said Ahmad Ramzi was
being investigated for criminal
intimidation by an anonymous
communication, for defamation and
other offences under Section 233
3
Zambry’s adviser and Gerakan
deputy president Datuk Chang Ko
Youn argued that when the Court of
Appeal granted the stay “everything
must remain status quo”.
He said the reason for the Court
of Appeal to grant the stay order was
because the state could not afford to
have a vaccum and there must be
someone to head the government.
“The situation will remain status
quo until the Court of Appeal decides
whether to uphold the decision of
the High Court or not,” he said.
Barisan Nasional state speaker
Datuk R. Ganesan said the removal
of Pakatan speaker V. Sivakumar at
the state assembly sitting last Thurs-
day was “undoubtedly legal”.
He said that when a motion is
moved against the speaker, he must
not decide on the motion because
he is the interested party and it is
against the natural rule of justice.
Since Sivakumar could not rule
on the motion, it was “natural” for
deputy speaker Hee Yit Foong to
replace him, “which had been done
correctly, and (with) the support of
31 assemblymen, they elected me
(as the speaker)”.
Ganesan also said he did not
mention he was going to call for an
emergency sitting of the assembly.
“We respect the decision of the
High Court and I will leave it to the
BN leadership to proceed with what-
ever action necessary,” he said.
of the Multimedia and Communica-
tions Act 1998.
Barisan Nasional assemblymen
Datuk Rosol Wahid, Abdul Halim Ju-
soh and Zakaria Abdullah had lodged
police reports last month over the
alleged SMS threats. – Bernama
Four quizzed over
threat to Murugiah
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have ques-
tioned four people over the threatening
note sent with two bullet casings to
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department Datuk T. Murugiah on
Monday.
City CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah
declined to say when the four were
interviewed.
“We are conducting a compre-
hensive investigation,” he told a press
conference yesterday.
The note and bullet casings, which
were sent to Murugiah’s office in
Putrajaya, were to warn him not to
contest any posts at PPP’s upcoming
elections.
Murugiah, a senator, is a supreme
council member in PPP. – Bernama
Hearing on suit against
Chandra on Aug 4
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court
will hear a defamation suit brought
by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim against former Parti
Keadilan Rakyat deputy president
Chandra Muzaffar on Aug 4.
The date was fixed by a deputy
registrar of the court yesterday
when the case was brought up for
case management.
In his statement of claim filed
on March 6 last year, Anwar asked
for RM10 million as compensation
in addition to damages in respect
of alleged slanderous statements
reported in The Star and New Straits
Times on March 4.
Anwar had filed his suit after
Chandra had refused to apologise
or retract his statements, alleged to
have been made at a public forum
before the 2008 general election.