Perak Pakatan condemn police aggression against Siva
(Suara Keadilan) – Perak Pakatan Rakyat leaders have condemned the police for roughing up slightly-built assembly Speaker V Sivakumar, warning that the legislature was in danger of further abuse by Umno-BN lawmakers, who a day ago used brute physical force and underhanded tactics to quell rivals right inside the hallowed hall itself.
“The House Speaker was strangled and forcibly dragged out of the assembly, and this has not only saddened Malaysians who love democracy but also shows that the legislature is in danger,” Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming told a press conference on Friday.
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The Pakatan has been calling for fresh state-wide polls as the assembly is hung, with each coalition holding 28 seats each, while three Independents and seven Umno assemblymen have been suspended.
However, at Thursday’s sitting, the Umno-BN defied the laws of the land, relying on the might of the apparatus they control by virtue of their hold on the federal government, to steam-roll their way through the state assembly.
They forcibly ejected the immensely popular Sivakumar even before the sitting began, creating a public uproar throughout the nation.
“From 9.45 in the morning until I was dragged out, I hold on to one fact that as long as the 10 assemblymen do not leave the House, the proceedings will not begin,” said Sivakumar.
Bending the numbers
The 10 assemblymen were BN Menteri Besar Zambry Kadir, Zainol Fadzi Paharuddin, Ramly Zahari, Hamidah Osman, Saarani Mohamad, Mohd Zahir Khalid, Mah Hang Soon, Hee Yit Foong, Jamaluddin Radzi and Mohd Osman Jailu.
They had been suspended by the the House committee of special privileges for breach of rules. Nevertheless, the Umno-BN defied Sivakumar’s order to leave the hall, while the sergeant-at-arms refused to heed his call to evict them.
“When a decision has been made by the rights and privileges committee I am also legally bound to it,” Sivakumar said.
The Umno-BN then pushed through a motion that declared MIC politician R Ganesan as the new Speaker.
“Clearly they had made plans to ignore the Speaker as they wanted a new Speaker,” Sivakumar added.
Siva fell down twice and was roughed up in the scuffle . He was also detained by the police.
Zambry has defended the action as justified because his coalition held the majority of 31 seats. He refused to accept that the Umno-BN could only claim 21 seats as the status of the 10 were still being questioned in the courts. Sivakumar had make it clear at the outset that their legal status was still unresolved and as such, the suspensions still effective.
Zambry has also tried to make light of the physical forced used against Sivakumar. However, as more and more revealing pictures crop up in cyberspace showing the extent of the police aggression and discourtesy to Siva, few Malaysians are willing to believe him.
Zambry had also tried to ban the press from covering the sitting, but was forced to recapitulate after Sivakumar overturned his decision and told the press to write directly to his office for passes.
