Nizar out as MB again

By Lee Wei Lian - The Malaysian Insider PUTRAJAYA, May 12 - Approximately 22 hours after the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that he was the rightful mentri besar of Perak, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin is now unable to act as mentri besar again after the Court of Appeal granted an unconditional stay of yesterday's High Court order. Judge Datuk Ramly Haji Ali said that he was satisfied that there were special circumstances and granted the stay order to Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir at about 1.15 pm. The effect of the stay order is that Nizar cannot act as mentri besar pending the appeal of yesterday's High Court decision by Zambry.

The date of appeal was not determined but Ramly said that he will set an early appeal date. Datuk Cecil Abraham, the lead counsel for Zambry said that since Nizar, was seeking to use his position as mentri besar to seek a dissolution of the state assembly, it would render the actual appeal by Zambry unnecessary and thus a stay of yesterday's order was required. Sulaiman Abdullah, the lead counsel for Nizar argued however, that the decision to dissolve the state assembly was the perrogative of the Sultan of Perak and that there was no guarantee that the Sultan would agree to a dissolution pending Zambry's appeal. Nizar's lawyers are now exploring the possibility of setting aside the stay order but will seek instructions from their client first. Mohd Hafarizam Harun who was holding a watching brief for Barisan Nasional told reporters that Nizar should now do what Zambry had done and respect the court's decision and vacate the office of mentri besar honorably. Nizar's lawyers were unhappy that there was insufficient notice given for today's hearing as the notice was served on them only this morning.