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Jewel of MRCS awarded
JANET LEE congratulates her mother, Datuk
Paduka Ruby Lee with a kiss. The former
Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS)
secretary-general was awarded the Henry
Dunant Award, the highest accolade of the
International Red Crescent Society in honour
of her outstanding services and acts of great
devotion to the society. Lee, 82, joined the MRCS
in the 1950s and was appointed secretary-
general in 1965. Lee retired in 1969.
Stop chain reaction
of illegality: Razaleigh
by Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: The takeover of Perak by
Barisan Nasional has set off a “chain reaction
of illegality” which threatens to leave the state
with no legitimate government, former finance
minister Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said
yesterday.
“The BN’s takeover of Perak has
set off a chain reaction of illegality
which has left Perak quite possibly One lie
without a legitimate government. leads
One of our most prosperous states to many lies.
has been reduced to a failed state,”
he said in a statement.
Each bad
“One lie leads to many lies. Each action leads to the separation of powers, the Constitu-
bad action leads to a cascade of a cascade of
follies, particularly when the lie or follies ...”
violation concerns something very
basic. This is a principle we teach
our children. It is a simple but universal truth
now being demonstrated in Perak.”
Calling for violations of the Federal Constitu-
tion to cease, Tengku Razaleigh added: “Those
who so blithely ignore the Constitution for
political ends are quite literally wrecking the
foundations of this country to further their own
interests. This must stop.”
He said the continued violations of the
Constitution would erode public confidence in
the rule of law.
“With each violation the sense of decency
and restraint and the habits that bind us to the
Constitution are loosened. The confidence in
the rule of law that makes civilised life possible You want to have power, you have to follow the
is diminished,” he said.
Razaleigh said the Constitution should be
treated with more reverence than other laws in
the country.
“The Constitution is not just any law. It is the
set of laws that founds our nation, defines its
basic principles, guarantees our individual rights
and prescribes the structures, duties and powers
which make a national community possible. It is
the foundation and source of the legal
authority underlying the existence of
Malaysia,” he said.
“Laws are invisible things. They exist
only when they are understood and ob-
served. When the government of the day
ignores foundational principles such as
tion becomes a dead piece of paper.”
In Kota Baru, Bernama quoted Home
Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar as
saying the Perak state assembly sitting
held under a tree on Tuesday was shameful and
tarnished the country’s image.
He said the emergency sitting of 27 state
representatives from PAS, DAP and Parti Keadilan
Rakyat outside Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan
showed foreigners that the people did not under-
stand the law.
“Nowhere in this world do people have a sitting
under a tree, people are laughing at us, like we
don’t understand (the law). They may not agree
they are no longer the government but there are
other proceses that can be used,” he said.
“I am tickled at the same time ... (they) want to
have power by whatever means. This is not right.
law.”
Syed Hamid, who spoke to reporters after a
dialogue with Kelantan Rela members, said that
“such action according to one’s whim to achieve
political goals showed they did not care about the
law”.
“All this happens because there is no obedience
of the law ... as politicians chosen by the people,
we are not above the law. We have to follow the
law, also this case is before the court.”
He also rejected the view of the Bar Council,
which questioned the police action to disallow
the state assemblymen into Bangunan Perak Darul
Ridzuan.
Nga submits emergency
motion to debate Perak crisis
by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PAKATAN Rakyat’s Perak executive councillor
and Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, submitted an
emergency motion in the Dewan Rakyat yester-
day requesting a debate on the alleged abuse
of power by the Executive in the “outdoor state
assembly sitting” on Tuesday.
At a press conference at the parliament lobby,
Nga said police should have ensured the safety
of the elected representatives to get into the
state assembly hall, instead of helping the state
secretary to stop all the 27 PR state assembly-
men from entering the building.
“It is an offence under Section 124 of the
Penal Code to do, so and we should realise that
the act of the state secretary and the police was
a serious encroachment of powers, and that
it had destroyed the pith of the separation of
power doctrine, enshrined under the Federal
Constitution,” he said.
“Such a development had also caused
embarrassment to the legislature and affected
the parliamentary democratic system in the
country.
“To defend the system and the sanctity of the
House and state assembly in Perak, a stern stand
must be made to condemn such abuse of power
by the executive so that such an incident will not
be repeated in future.”
On Tuesday, the state assembly met under a
raintree to approve three motions after the PR
assemblymen were denied entry into the heav-
ily-guarded Perak Darul Ridzuan complex, where
the assembly is housed.
| THURSDAY MARCH 5 2009
Sitting under tree
was to embarrass
nation, says Zambry
PARIT BUNTAR: Barisan Nasional mentri
besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said
Tuesday’s “emergency session” of the
state assembly, held under a tree, was
to embarrass the nation in the eyes of
the world.
“I don’t want to speculate but we
can see that they had prepared for the
session, with some carrying posters that
read ‘the world is watching’,” he told
reporters after chairing a state executive
council meeting yesterday.
“It was as if the session was staged
for the world to see,” he said.
Zambry said the session was also
an attempt by the opposition parties to
disrupt the state’s administration.
“But I will continue to discharge my
duties as usual ... we cannot be bothered
by such incidents,” he said.
Perak state legislative assembly sec-
retary, Abdullah Antong Sabri, had said
the sitting was illegal as it did not have
the consent of the Sultan of Perak, Sultan
Azlan Shah. On Tuesday, the Ipoh High
Court issued an order restraining Speaker
V. Sivakumar from convening any unlaw-
ful sitting of the state assembly.
Judicial Commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim
granted the injunction sought by Zambry
and the six state executive councillors
to stop Sivakumar from convening any
unlawful sitting.
Zambry also said BN would step up
efforts to inform the people on the for-
mation of the BN state government as
the opposition parties were still raising
doubts over the matter. – Bernama
Syed Hamid said the police move was ap-
propriate.
“If we view it from one angle we may see
there has been a mistake but actually, the Bar
Council should view it legally. The police are
not taking sides (they are) just ensuring that
no untoward incident happens.”
On another matter, Syed Hamid said the
Opposition were seen as taking advantage of
the death in police detention of suspected car
thief A. Kugan for their political interest.
He said the case had nothing to do with
politics and the Opposition should leave the
case to the police and the attorney-general if a
crime had been committed. – Bernama
Nga said the three motions, which expressed
support for Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamalud-
din as the mentri besar, called for the dissolution
of the state assembly to enable fresh elections to
be held, and affirmed the speaker’s decision to
suspend Barisan Nasional mentri besar, Datuk Dr
Zambry Abdul Kadir, and his six state executive
councillors, were legal.
“The sitting was legally bound by the state
constitution and standing order, the speaker
cannot be questioned and we had the quorum,”
he said.
“The (Ipoh) High Court ruling to prohibit the
speaker to chair any sitting in future has been
overtaken by events and it only remains an
academic issue.”
He said a legal team had gone to the Court of
Appeal in Putrajaya to set aside the High Court
ruling. Nga also called on Zambry to resign im-
mediately because he had lost the confidence of
the majority in the assembly.
“If Zambry refuses to do so, the world is
watching him and history will judge him,” he
said.
On the court’s ruling that Sivakumar’s lawyers
have no locus standi to represent him, Nga said,
the court might have been misinformed because
under Article 136 of the Federal Constitution, the
speaker of the legislative is not a civil servant,
so he must be given the liberty to appoint his
own counsel.
“The state legal adviser is representing Zam-
bry in the Kuala Lumpur High Court and this is a
clear conflict of interest. How can the court allow
a person who has clear conflict of interest to
represent him?” Nga said.