Court dismisses Sivakumar's application

Ousted Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar has failed to obtain a court order to stop state secretary Abdul Rahman Hashim from interfering in the planned state assembly sitting tomorrow.

After hearing inter-parte submissions in chambers this afternoon, Judicial Commissioner Tarmizi Abd Rahman dismissed Sivakumar’s application.

“No grounds were given,” said Sivakumar’s counsel Chan Kok Keong, when contacted.

Chan said that, in his submission, he had told the judicial commissioner that the state secretary cannot be allowed to interfere in legislative assembly proceedings because he is a member of the state executive.

In his ex-parte application filed earlier today, Sivakumar had also sought to prevent Abdul Rahman from standing in his way in the discharge of official duties.

This was a pre-emptive strike against Abdul Rahman who had played a key role in the ouster of the Pakatan Rakyat government in February.

Abdul Rahman had used his powers to prevent Sivakumar, then undisputed as speaker, from convening an emergency state assembly sitting within the assembly hall.

This led to Sivakumar to convene the famous ‘tree assembly' on March 3.

Abdul Rahman was also a key figure during the tumultuous May 7 state assembly sitting, which saw the forceful removal of Sivakumar from the speaker's chair and subsequent ouster from the chamber.

Need for sitting

Pakatan must convene the state assembly sitting tomorrow to continue its claim to legitimacy as the duly elected Perak government.

Under the Perak constitution, the state assembly must convene within six months of the previous meeting.

The constitution is silent as to what would happen if there is a lapse, but it is widely held that the state assembly would be automatically dissolved.

Last month, Sivakumar revealed that the agenda for tomorrow would consist of debate on the royal address delivered by Perak Regent Nazrin Shah (right) at the May 7 sitting.

Sivakumar had insisted that the Regent's speech was the only legitimate item during the sitting and chided the Barisan Nasional appointed speaker R Ganesan for adjourning' the sitting without calling for debate on the royal address.

Ganesan has claimed that the sitting tomorrow is illegal, but Pakatan is ignoring him because his position is now in jeopardy after it was found that he had flouted the state constitution.

Under 36A(5) of the Perak constitution, Ganesan should have resigned from his legal practice within three months, in order to continue as speaker.

However, according to the Bar Council, Ganesan was only issued a notice of cessation on Aug 17, eleven days after the deadline.

Assembly to proceed

Meanwhile, Perak DAP chair Ngeh Khoo Ham said Pakatan state reps will proceed with their plans to convene the state assembly meeting tomorrow.

"We will still proceed and enter the house tomorrow, because legally, it is very clear that state secretary, who represents the executive branch, cannot interfere," said Ngeh when contacted.

"Last time, the state secretary instructed the police to cordon the area. I hope the state legal advisor advises the state secretary that he has no powers to do that," he added.