Monday, May 4, 2009

Speaker seeks to postpone assembly sitting - Malaysian Insider

By Adib Zalkapli

IPOH, May 4 – In a last ditched attempt to stop the Barisan Nasional government from obtaining its legitimacy from the state lawmakers, Perak assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar today wrote to the Sultan requesting a postponement of the sitting scheduled for Thursday.

“I have requested the Tuanku Sultan to consider putting off the Perak Assembly sitting to a date to be fixed by the Sultan,” said Sivakumar in a statement.

The letter was sent to the Istana Kinta at about 11am this morning, he said.

He added that the postponement was necessary as the courts have yet to decide on who is the legitimate Perak Menteri Besar.

“I am also worried that there will be heated arguments which will get out of control on that day,” said Sivakumar whose position is being challenged with Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Kadir moving for the appointment of a new speaker.

“To preserve and protect the dignity of the assembly, I beg Tuanku to postpone the sitting,” he added.

Zambry urged Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen to attend the sitting and also gave his assurance that the police would ensure the safety of all 59 lawmakers.

Last March, Sivakumar and PR lawmakers convened the assembly under a tree outside the Perak state secretariat building where it passed a motion in support of the ousted government led by Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin.

Zambry has maintained that the “under the tree assembly" was illegal as it was convened without the consent of the Sultan.

No comments: