Pakatan Rakyat will lose its majority as well as its Speaker in the Perak state assembly if the Barisan Nasional state government manages to convene the assembly sitting on May 7 as two of the defected independent lawmakers have declared their support for BN.

Former PKR reps Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) told Malaysiakini that they will attend the assembly and back BN on the motions moved.

Osman Jailu "Sure!" Mohd Osman replied when asked if he would support the vote of confidence for Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir if tabled.

Meanwhile, Jamaluddin said that it was not necessary for BN to table any motion in support of Zambry or against ousted menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as the latter is no longer in office.

Jamaluddin Mat Radzi However, the Behrang rep said he would lend his support to BN if a motion was moved to remove Speaker V Sivakumar, who is also the DAP assemblyperson for Tronoh.

Currently BN and Pakatan both control 28 seats in the state assembly, with the balance of power resting with the three independent reps who have declared themselves as 'BN-friendly'.

najib pc on bn takeover of perak state with 4 aduns 050209 03 The trio, Mohd Osman, Jamaluddin and former DAP assemblyperson Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang), quit their respective parties to become BN-friendly independents on Feb 4. This resulted in the collapse of the10-month-old Perak Pakatan state government.

The state was subsequently plunged into political turmoil with Pakatan denouncing the BN takeover as illegal since a vote of no confidence was not passed in the state assembly to remove Mohd Nizar.

Last week, state assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri who was suspended indefinitely by Sivakumar last month, issued notices for the sitting to all assemblypersons.

However, Sivakumar claimed that the notice was illegal because he was not aware of it and Abdullah had been suspended.

According to procedure, he said, the state assembly secretary must seek approval from Speaker before issuing the notice.

Sivakumar will write to Perak ruler Sultan Azlan Shah to ascertain the legality of the notice and ask for a postponement of the sitting.

Exco appointments on the cards?

In a related development, both Mohd Osman and Jamaluddin said they have not heard any news about being appointed as state executive councilors.

nga kor ming Yesterday, DAP Pantai Remis assemblyperson Nga Kor Ming alleged that the three independents went to the state government building last week to have a glimpse of their future exco offices.

Nga urged the trio to explain whether the posts are a form of reward for supporting BN.

Denying this, Mohd Osman said he had been to the building only once, to attend a meeting last month, after BN took over the state.

On being appointed an exco member, Mohd Osman laughed, and merely replied: "No idea and no information."

Jamaluddin, on the other hand, called Nga a "liar" and claimed that his visit to the building last week was to take back his belongings in his old office.

"I went there alone. He is a liar," he said.

Both Mohd Osman and Jamaluddin were appointed as state exco members when Pakatan ruled the state.

When BN formed the state government, only six state exco members were appointed although the state constitution allowed for 10 members.

Pakatan leaders alleged that the vacancies were to lure more Pakatan assemblypersons to defect and also to reward the three independent lawmakers.

Hee, who has never been seen in her Jelapang constituency since the takeover, could not be reached for comment.