KUALA LUMPUR, 26 May 2009: Police arrested five people before the launch of the Perak Pakatan Rakyat (PR) assemblypersons' hunger strike today, Chinese-language news portal Merdeka Review reported.
Police also arrested several Perak PR elected representatives, including Speaker V Sivakumar and Ipoh Barat Member of Parliament M Kulasegaran, while they were walking towards the Ipoh High Court at 11.30am.
Earlier, at around 7am, the police arrested five employees from an event management company that PR had hired to help organise the "Mogok Lapar Bubar DUN" at the Perak DAP headquarters. The arrested have been brought to the Ipoh police station.
(Photo (© Steve Wood / sxc.hu)
The police, who were stationed at the site from 6.30am, also seized a balloon made for the event.
The Perak DAP headquarters was also surrounded by around 70 police personnel, including 20 plain-clothes police, and 15 police vehicles.
Despite that, PR's embattled Perak Menteri Besar (MB) Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and Sivakumar arrived at the site at around 10am and launched the hunger strike at a press conference.
Other PR assemblypersons also turned up in black attire at the media conference. The three-day hunger strike aims to pressure for the dissolution of the Perak assembly.
Other than the hunger strike, there will be a "BN's Perak coup" drawing competition this afternoon. A candlelight vigil has also been scheduled tonight to request for the state assembly's dissolution.
The Perak crisis was triggered in February when PR lost its majority in the Perak assembly after three former PR assemblypersons quit their parties to become Barisan Nasional (BN)-friendly independents.
Subsequently, Nizar requested for Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah's consent to dissolve the state assembly to pave the way for fresh elections.
File pic of V Sivakumar, who was among
those arrested today
However, Sultan Azlan turned down Nizar's request and asked him to step down instead. BN's Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir was sworn in as MB on 6 Feb.
On 13 Feb, Nizar, 52, filed a judicial review and sought a declaration from the courts that he was at all material times the Perak MB. He also sought a declaration that Zambry had no right to hold the MB office.
On 11 May, High Court (Appellate and Special Powers Division) judge Datuk Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim ruled that Nizar was the rightful MB.
However, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling on 22 May and declared Zambry the lawful Perak MB. PR is seeking leave to appeal the ruling at the Federal Court.
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