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Zambry frustrates Perakians’ hopes for fresh polls

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Pakatan leaders at a press conference in the State Government complex around noon – Photo by Kinta Kid (Click to expand)

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Back to work: Nizar and his exco team along with Speaker V Sivakumar at the MB’s office this morning

Updates from various contacts and media sources:

1837: Pakatan lawyers are working on trying to set aside the Court of Appeals’ stay decision, which was made by a single judge.

1836: Looking at it from another angle, another KL-based political analyst says  events over the last few days have exposed the rot in various institutions. Yesterday’s High Court ruling offered these institutions a chance for them to redeem themselves, but it was an opportunity lost.

1814: “This is a mess of the BN’s own making,” says a veteran KL-based political commentator. “If it continues along this path, the BN government will only lose further legitimacy, which could result in their losing the next general election.”

Perhaps that is why a string of establishment or pro-BN figures such as Tengku Razaleigh and the Suhakam chairman are calling for more rational, sober action. They can see clearly what is coming. Take for instance Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow: “While the Barisan Nasional leadership maintains that our focus now is on the economy, how can we do so effectively if the Perak situation keeps on worsening and generating negative perception and reaction from the people?”

Indeed, the BN is likely to pay a heavy electoral price as a result of its actions  – and that explains its great reluctance to go for fresh polls.

1725: “People here are just fed up with what’s going on,” says one Ipoh-based journalist. They want a fresh state election, but they are being denied that.

Riot police guard entrance to Perak govt complex

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FRU trucks take up position this evening at the entrance to the Perak State Government complex, which also houses the State Assembly building – Photo courtesy of M Kulasegaran’s blog

1920: The  Malaysian Bar president Ragunath Kesavan has issued a press statement:

No doubt Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir will now appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal, and further legal arguments will be advanced.  Whichever side that loses at the Court of Appeal will then appeal to the Federal Court.  The issue will go on and on.  Each round of legal battles promises finality but fails to deliver it.  Time moves on, and the business of running the State Government continues to be sidelined.

Court declares Nizar rightful MB

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The real deal: Perak Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin below the Democracy Tree

So the High Court has ruled that Nizar is the rightful MB and Zambry and his exco members are to vacate their posts with immediate effect.

Justice Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim ruled that a Mentri Besar can only be dismissed by a vote of no confidence.

This is a brave verdict by a courageous judge.

Hmm, Hee now says it was not her pepper spray…

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Remember how Hee was quoted in theSun as saying that what she was brandishing was actually a hotel key chain and pen drive?

So what do you make of this? The Star now carries this report of her saying that the device was actually flung at her and she was merely demanding to know whether it was Aulong assembly member Yew Tian Hoe who had thrown it at her.

Police disrupt DAP video screening, PKR celebration

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Riot police barging in to the DAP dinner on Saturday night – Photos courtesy of Ngeh Koo Ham’s blog. More pictures here

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Police confiscating audio-visual equipment used for the dinner-time video screening of the 7 May Perak State Assembly proceedings

Riot police raided a DAP dinner in Sitiawan on 9 May during the screening of a video on the 7 May Perak State Assembly proceedings, according to Suara Keadilan online.

One person, a video technician, was arrested.

Police confiscated “one DVD player, three projectors, two mobile screens and other equipment at the thousand-people DAP dinner,” wrote Lim Kit Siang in his blog.

Speaker Sivakumar pays tribute to mother, slams Hee

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Perak Speaker V Sivakumar receiving a hero’s welcome at a DAP dinner on Saturday night

ibubapaPerak Speaker V Sivakumar has paid tribute to his mother in a Mother’s Day message. Recalling how they came from humble beginnings, he said his mother was over the moon when he was appointed Speaker a year ago. But her proudest moment came when he was dragged out of the Dewan on 7 May because he was “brave enough to struggle for the people’s rights”.

Menurutnya, kesetiaan saya dalam memperjuangkan keadilan untuk rakyat telah membuat dirinya sebagai seorang ibu yang istemewa. Kata-katanya itu memberi rangsangan dan semangat baru dalam hati naluri saya.

Meanwhile, Siva has sharply criticised Hee Yit Foong for usurping his authority and attempting to create a “sub-Dewan” even though he was still presiding.

Eng Kiat’s arrest at the Penang vigil

This was the peaceful candlelight vigil in Penang on 7 May.

When brute force ruled the day – but at what cost to BN?

A phyrric victory for the BN – but at what cost to its credibility?

This is a piece I wrote for Asia Times:

The battle of Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to regain control of the second-largest state on the Malaysian Peninsula may have come at a heavy price to its long-term credibility and raises questions about new Prime Minister Razak Najib’s emerging brand of leadership.

When the Deputy Speaker ruled over the Speaker

What is Hee doing here? Speaker Sivakumar alleges that Deputy Speaker Hee Yit Foong used pepper spray to attack Aulong assembly member Yew Tian Hoe. But Hee maintains the device she was holding in her hand was a key chain from her hotel and a pen drive. “I would not give him (Yew) free publicity by pepper spraying him in the House,” she was quoted in theSun as saying.

The Perak State Assembly’s mysterious “officers”

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A roll call of  “officers” in the Dewan car-park at the end of the day

Who were all those mysterious personnel wearing “pegawai” (officer) tags at the Perak State Assembly on that infamous 7 May?

Several photos made available to me show them during a roll-call in the Dewan’s car park at the end of the day, just before 5.00pm.

A couple of hours earlier, men in neck-ties and long-sleeves shirts, some of them donning black jackets and songkoks, sporting the same blue-and-yellow “pegawai” tags, were  seen alongside a couple of uniformed police personnel, inside the Dewan proper.