Nizar's pleading with the Sultan

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 - He pleaded, appealed and even cajoled Sultan Azlan Shah to dissolve the Perak state assembly, saying that with the resignation of the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers there was deadlock in the House between the coalition he led and Barisan Nasional.

Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin said that at no time during his audience with the Sultan did he ask the monarch to dissolve the assembly and call for fresh elections because he had lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the state assembly.

Nizar cleared this important point in an affidavit which was filed in the High Court yesterday as part of the judicial review application challenging Datuk Seri Zambry Kadir appointment as the Mentri Besar of Perak.The Perak state legal advisor in his affidavit said that when Nizar appeared before the Sultan on February 4, he asked the Malay Ruler to dissolve the house because he had lost the confidence of the House.

This point is important because it gives some legitimacy to the Sultan's actions in asking Nizar to quit as the Mentri Besar, an act which paved the way for Zambry to be made the chief executive of the state.

But Nizar in his affidavit noted that the state legal advisor was an interested party in the case, having represented and taken instructions from Zambry.

His description of the events on Feb 4 were wrong, said Nizar. Nizar recalled that on Feb 4 he informed the Sultan that three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers had resigned.

They could not be contacted and seemed to have gone missing.

He then asked the Sultan to dissolve the assembly because it was appropriate to have fresh elections given the deadlock situation in the House with Pakatan Rakyat and BN having equal number of seats.

The Sultan said he would study the matter further and told Nizar that Allah is with those who are patient.

At no point during the audience, did the issue of Nizar losing the confidence of majority of the assembly crop up.

On Feb 5, the Sultan informed Nizar that he was rejecting the request to dissolve the assembly.
Hearing this, Nizar interjected and spoke for 15 minutes, urging the Ruler to allow the people of Perak to exercise their rights and elect their own government.

"When the assembly is dissolved, the rakyat will view the Sultan as someone who is fair and not partisan. They will in turn respect the institution for returning to them their rights to elect the government.This is also consistent with the constitutional monarchy system and democratic principle here…

"In contrast, if the people were denied their rights, the people may lose respect for the institution and the Sultan…I pointed out that history showed that in countries such as Egypt and Iran the institution of the monarchy was diminished or completely wiped out when decisions not in the interest of people were made.''

To support his case, Nizar also read out a passage from the book "Constitutional Monrachy: Rule of Law and Good Governance .

It said: "Under normal circumstances, it is taken for granted that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would not withhold his consent to a request for dissolution of Parliament. His role is purely formal.

The book was given to Nizar by Sultan Azlan Shah when he was installed as the MB last year.
As soon as Nizar finished his 15 minute plea, the Sultan looked up at him and declared that he would not dissolve the assembly and urged Nizar to resign.

Meanwhile, in a supporting affidavit, Perak Speaker V Sivakumar said that on Feb 6, he wrote to the Sultan to convene a state assembly sitting so that a vote of confidence could be held.

Till today, he has not received a reply from the palace, forcing him to take steps to protect the name and integrity of the assembly.

-malaysianinsider.com