(Updated 4:41pm, 5 Feb 2009)
Sultan Azlan Shah (source: sultan.perak.gov.my)
IPOH, 5 Feb 2009: Sultan Azlan Shah has decided not to give his consent to the dissolution of the Perak state assembly and has ordered Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and his state executive council to step down with immediate effect.
The office of the Sultan of Perak, in a statement today, said that after meeting all the 28 Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblypersons and the three independents, the sultan was convinced that Mohammad Nizar had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the state assembly members.
“If Datuk Seri Ir Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin does not resign his post as Perak menteri besar together with the members of the state executive council, the posts of menteri besar and state executive councillors are considered vacant,” the statement said.
The four-page statement, signed by the sultan’s private secretary, Col Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohamad Nor, was issued at 2.15pm.
It said that Mohammad Nizar had an audience with the sultan yesterday to seek the sultan’s consent to dissolve the Perak state assembly.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as Perak Barisan Nasional chairperson, also sought an audience with the sultan and was granted one today.
At the audience this morning, he informed the ruler that the BN and its supporters, altogether numbering 31, now had the majority in the state assembly.
The statement said that the sultan, to verify the information, summoned all the 31 assemblypersons before him.
“After meeting the 31 state assemblypersons, his Royal Highness, the Sultan of Perak was convinced that YAB Datuk Seri Ir Haji Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the state assembly members,” it said.
It also said that the sultan had considered thoroughly Mohammad Nizar’s application yesterday for consent to dissolve the Perak state assembly.
“His Royal Highness used his discretion under Article XVIII (2)(b) of the Perak Darul Ridzuan state constitution and did not consent to the dissolution of the Perak state assembly,” it added.
Mohammad Nizar was summoned to an audience to be informed of the sultan’s decision not to dissolve the state government. And in accordance with the provisions of XVI (6) of the state constitution, Sultan Azlan Shah ordered him to resign from his post as Perak menteri besar together with the members of the state executive council with immediate effect, the statement said. — Bernama
Maozi says
Very, very disappointed.
sans says
It is up to the Sultan’s discretion but generally as practiced worldwide only a formality.
No one should be afraid to face elections.
I wonder what those people who were singing praises about the Royals are saying now?
menj says
Very sad to see how events have turned out.
Salak says
“The four-page statement, signed by the sultan’s private secretary, Col Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohamad Nor, was issued at 2.15pm.”
He doesn’t even sign! So much for his groceries we paid!
Lainie says
Am crushed.
KW Mak says
At Salak,
I believe that the Sultan (or any state ruler for that matter) does not address the public directly but rather through their retainers. It is palace protocol.
blur says
Why not? What is BN afraid of? Only the ones who are afraid of losing will not want it. So in fact they are saying that the people don’t want them! Why not? Why not listen to the people? What are we afraid of? The truth?
Salak says
That’s beside the point. It’s just bad protocol then. No rule or law is good until truly tested by the largest of use. In any case, Malaysians always go overboard with this protocol, even beyond the call of simple decency.
Other cultures do it differently to try to achieve the best in human endeavour — for instance, physically and in real time, applying the royal seal to a document!
Salak says
[“…the Sultan (or any state Ruler for that matter) does not address the public directly but rather through their retainers. …]
This nonsense makes a coup in the palace like snatching a lollipop from a kid!
You saw everybody going to the palace, but you didn’t see what went on in the palace.
Has anybody heard from Hamid Albar yet?
Aetheus says
So Pakatan Rakyat, who planned to gain the country via defections, has lost a state from it instead … It would almost be funny, if the fate of an entire state didn’t hang in the balance. This whole fiasco is a mockery of democracy. In a democratic country, political parties have to win the people’s trust in order to stake their places. BN may have won the state, but I doubt it has won the hearts of the people.
Andrew I says
Conspiracy theory part 2:
The power of suggestion. Now that they have fallen for it, it’s time to play the underdog to the hilt.
As in a chess game, you have to be one step ahead of your opponent. Knowing how they think and behave in a given situation would be tremendously helpful and who would know better than the ex number 2?
Anwar, ever the strategist. No wonder they fear him.