Bar council, civil society slam police over Perak sitting, warn of lasting implications

If over a former tin-mining state like Perak, Najib is prepared to damage the nation in this way, just imagine if the whole country was a stake. If he can suppress a state-wide snap election, what makes you think he won’t suppress a nation-wide general election, where the payoff and rewards are so much greater …Suara KeADILan

 

Civil society and the Bar Council have slammed the police for deeming the emergency sitting of the Perak legislature as illegal, warning it not only  reeked of taking sides but would also harden public perceptions that Malaysian institutions were at the beck and call of the ruling politicians of the day.

“This is a real test of the whether our institutions are truly independent,” Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan told Suara KeADILan.

“Our institutions, that is the courts, the police and so on, are being tested and we can judge for ourselves whether they are acting independently or not.”

She also criticised the police for hiding behind the instructions of the state assembly secretary, Abdullah Antong Sabri, who on Sunday issued an unauthorised statement that the sitting was invalid because it lacked the Sultan’s consent.

“We are very surprised the police is ignoring the Speaker. The secretary has absolutely no right nor authority at all to question the validity and legality of the sitting,” Ambiga said, adding that the secretary was merely an employee and took instructions from the Speaker.

Abdullah Antong has since been suspended for unprofessional conduct and replaced by Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki effective on Mar 2.

If state-wide polls can be suppressed, so too can nation-wide general election

But even as civil society joined the legal fraternity in denouncing the Umno-Barisan Nasional government for dirty tactics, they worried the Perak incident might herald a dark age of police or emergency rule as Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak scrounges for all ways and means to cling to power.

“If over a former tin-mining state like Perak, Najib is prepared to damage the nation in this way, just imagine if the whole country was a stake. If he can suppress a state-wide snap election, what makes you think he won’t suppress a nation-wide general election, where the payoff and rewards are so much greater,” said a political analyst.

State legislative Speaker V Sivakumar had last week called an emergency meeting of the assembly to vote on two motions.

One is a vote of confidence in Pakatan Rakyat leader Nizar Jamaluddin as Menteri Besar and the other a motion to dissolve the state assembly, paving the way for fresh election that would allow the people to vote in the leadership that they wanted.

Those who block the sitting, even the police, can be jailed for up to 7 years

Last night, Sivakumar again warned the police not to block the proceeding, or he would “invoke the powers of the House to commit those responsible” for contempt of the state assembly.

“I want him to ensure that the police will not stop or block state assemblymen from attending the state assembly sitting. No interference. No obstruction,” Sivakumar said.

“I also wish to draw the CPO’s attention to Section 124 of the Penal Code which provides a prison term of up to seven years for wrongfully restraining a member of the legislative assembly from exercising his or her duties.”

Perak police chief Zulkefli Abdullah had earlier said police would take tough action against any gathering at the state secretariat building, where the legislative assembly hall is located, saying such a gathering would be illegal.

He said the police were informed by the building’s administrators that the legislative assembly would not convene on Tuesday, adding that only State Secretariat employees and people with prior approval would be allowed into the building.

“According to a statement from the secretary of the assembly received today, the emergency sitting of the assembly is not valid because it does not have the consent of the Sultan of Perak,” Zulkefli said.

Meanwhile, roadblocks have been set up and FRU trucks stationed on standby behind the building.