PERAK EMERGENCY ASSEMBLY ILLEGAL: ASSEMBLY SEC

The move by state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar to call for an emergency sitting of the assembly this Tuesday is not legal according to Perak State Assembly Secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri

This is because he has not received the consent of Sultan of Perak in accordance with the Standing Orders of the assembly and the state constitution, he said in a statement released in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, in Ipoh, Sivakumar’s lawyer, Chan Kok Keong insisted that the Speaker’s call for an emergency sitting on March 3 to table two motions on the takeover of the state government was lawful.

He said it was done in accordance to the state constitution and standing orders of the State Legislative Assembly.

Chan said the view was also shared by constitutional lawyer Tommy Thomas whose opinion was that the Speaker was lawfully empowered to convene the Legislative Assembly on March 3, since the last meeting of the assembly in November, last year, was adjourned sine die and was not prorogued.

"If it was prorogued, only the Sultan of Perak can summon the Assembly," he told reporters at a press conference in his office here on Sunday. - Bernama

LATEST 1Mac 2009 22:01pm

The emergency sitting of the Perak State Assembly this Tuesday is valid and will go ahead as planned, said its Speaker V. Sivakumar.

Sivakumar said he and legal experts had studied the Perak constitution and the assembly's standing orders in detail and determined that it is within his powers to call for the emergency sitting.

He told this at a press conference in response to the assembly's secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri this afternoon issuing a statement that the emergency sitting is illegal because it did not have the consent of the Sultan of Perak and contravened the Perak constitution and the assembly's Standing Orders.

Sivakumar said Abdullah did not have powers to interpret the state constitution or the Standing Orders and his job was to follow the orders of the Speaker and discharge the duties spelt out in his job description.

He added that the Sultan's consent was not needed in this case.- Bernama