FEDERAL COURT DECLARES DR ZAMBRY RIGHTFUL MENTERI BESAR

Bernama - Tuesday, February 9

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PUTRAJAYA, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir retains the Perak menteri besar's post after the Federal Court here today declared his appointment by Sultan Azlan Shah as constitutional. A five-man bench led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff unanimously ruled that the ruler had exercised his royal power to appoint Dr Zambry to succeed his opponent from Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, after he was satisfied that the latter had lost the majority vote of the state legislative assembly.

Alauddin sat with Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria and Federal Court judges Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, Datuk Wira Ghazali Mohd Yusof and Datuk Abdull Hamid Embong.

Justice Arifin read out the judgment.

The conflict over who is the rightful menteri besar arose last year after three Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen quit their parties to become independents and the fourth jumped back from PKR to Umno, thus leaving the two sides with 28 assemblymen each in the 59-seat assembly. They were Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) who resigned from PKR on Jan 30 and declared themselves as Barisan Nasional-friendly independents. DAP assemblyman Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang) followed in their footsteps four days later.

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COURT-PERAK 2 (LAST) PUTRAJAYA

Mohammad Nizar, 52, who is Pasir Panjang state asemblyman, was appointed menteri besar after the DAP-PKR-PAS alliance won 31 seats in the 12th general election on March 8, 2008.

Sultan Azlan Shah then asked Mohammad Nizar to step down as menteri besar and swore in Dr Zambry in February last year after declaring that the Barisan Nasional had the majority in the state legislative assembly. Mohammad Nizar did not tender his resignation as menteri besar to the ruler. He initiated legal proceedings on Feb 13 last year seeking a declaration that he is at all material times the rightful menteri besar of Perak and an injunction to bar Dr Zambry from discharging his duties as the menteri besar. On May 11 last year, High Court judge Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim reinstated Mohammad Nizar as the legitimate menteri besar after he ruled that Barisan Nasional did not take a vote of no-confidence against him in the state legislative assembly despite having the majority. However, it was back to status quo, when the Court of Appeal allowed Dr Zambry's appeal and declared that his appointment as Perak menteri besar was constitutional. -- BERNAMA JA AR JK