By Jeff Ooi (Screen Shot)
Can history repeat itself?
Two important dates.
May 10, 1969: Alliance Party (foreshadow of Barisan Nasional) lost heavily in the general election, surrendering its two-thirds majority in the Parliament, and acceding Kelantan and Penang to the Opposition.
Four decades later, May 10, 2009: KL High Court Judge Justice Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim declared Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful menteri besar of Perak. The court also ordered the BN-emplaced menteri besar Dr Zambry and the six executive councillors he had appointed to vacate their office. Quote Malaysiakini:"He is, and was, at all material times the chief minister of Perak," Abdul Aziz told the court.
Justice Abdul Aziz ruled that that the only way to force the MB to resign is through a vote of no-confidence in the state assembly.
The Justice also passed down an immediate judgment to reject the application by Zambry's lawyers for a stay of execution of the judgment.
With that order, Zambry and the illegally-appointed Excos have to go or they will stand accused of contempt of court.
Significantly too, Justice Abdul Aziz also noted that Perak state legal advisor Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid had erred in his affidavit tendered to the court. "The court cannot accept the state legal advisor's testimony as he seemed to be a partisan witness," he ruled.
Mohd Nizar swiftly urged that Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid be suspended from his post of the state illegal adviser with immediate effect.
May 13, 1969: Politically-motivated blood-sheds plunged Malaysia into a state of emergency that suspended Parliamentary Democracy for two years. It saw the rise of Abdul Razak Hussein, Najib's father, as the Prime Minister, and the embezzlement of Ketuanan Melayu in Malaysian psyche in the last four decades.
Four decades later, May 13, 2009, which is two days from now, and with Razak's son ruling as the current prime minister, will ugly history repeat itself?
The last train
First, legally speaking under the provisions of the Constitution, Zambry has the right to appeal. His Umno lawyers are certainly expected to file in at the Court of Appeal tomorrow morning to obtain a stay of execution of the High Court ruling, and failing which, to appeal against the High Court judgment.
Sensibly speaking, Nizar has about another 20 hours to be the legal menteri besar until the Court of Appeal decides otherwise.
He can use the narrow window to seek the consent of the Sultan to dissolve the state assembly to pave the way for fresh state-wide elections.
However, the Sultan can reject his request, and the BN can still consider calling an emergency assembly sitting to force Nizar’s resignation through a vote of no-confidence.
But, the originally-elected Speaker V. Sivakumar will still be the presiding speaker to suspend the three defected PR state assemblymen to annul BN's so-called 3-seat majority advantage.
Taking all these factors into consideration, I firmly believe BN will accede to the will of the Court and the wishes of the people.
Zamry has to abandon further appeals to save the pain of the nation and withdraw himself from operating as the illegally installed menteri besar, and the Sultan has to pave the way for fresh state-wide elections.
BN can't cheat the people of their rights twice using Police to lord over democracy.
Najib and his brother, on their part as the key schemers of the coup-d'etat in Perak, can now seize the god-sent opportunity to leverage the Court's judgment to pepper the 1Malaysia 8th value, I N T E G R I T Y, by acceding to the expectations of the citizenry, and claim that our Judiciary is independent of the Executive, and that the Legislative is an untouchable sanctity of a parliamentary democracy.
More seriously, it's last train for the institution of sultanate to redeem itself from serious miscarriage of its constitutional rights in the recent past.
There doesn't seem to be any two ways about it. Don't even think of placing Perak under the emergency rule. This ain't 1969. Don't!
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