Post by a “Court Observer” received by LB.com just now:

IT is judgment day tomorrow for ousted Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and his successor Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court will deliver tomorrow afternoon the much awaited ruling whether Nizar or Zambry is the rightful chief executive of the silver state.

Last week, lawyers for Nizar and Zambry made submissions on facts and law.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who acted as intervener, also assisted the court as the ruling has far reaching implications on the federation and state governments.

On Feb 13, Nizar filed a judicial review application and sought a declaration that he is the rightful MB. He also wants the court to declare that the Feb 6 appointment of Zambry by the Sultan of Perak was unconstitutional.

Nizar’s case rests on the weight that on Feb 4, he had sought an audience with the Sultan to dissolve the Perak State Assembly as there was deadlock between the Barisan Nasonal and Pakatan Rakyat who had 28 seats each in the House. Nizar also wanted the Sultan to give the voters the opportunity to elect a new government to bring about political stability. He is said to have relied on Article 36(2) of the State Constitution to advise the Sultan to dissolve the Assembly.

Meanwhile, Zambry’s case, supported by an affidavit affirmed by State Legal Adviser Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid, is footed on the notion that the Sultan refused Nizar’s request for dissolution on grounds that he (Nizar) had lost the confidence of the majority assemblymen. Ahmad Kamal claimed Nizar had invoked Article 16(6) of the State Constitution.

The 10-month-old Pakatan Rakyat government is said to have collapsed after three lawmakers (two from PKR and one from DAP) defected to the Barisan Nasional in early February.

In the March 8, 2008 election, BN won 28 seats but the loose coalition of Pakatan Rakyat won 31 seats (DAP 18, PKR 7 and Pas 6).

Sometime in Feb 4 or 5, the BN claimed it had the majority to form the government with the assistance of the three who claimed to be independents but friendly to the coalition.

Nizar’s lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah argued extensively last week that a Menteri Besar or Chief Minister of a State could not be dismissed from office as the head of government does not hold office at the pleasure of the head of State. He said the Menteri Besar or Chief Minister could be removed only through a vote of no confidence in the State Assembly. He cited the principle outlined in the case of Stephen Kalong Ningkan -v- Tun Abang Haji Openg where the High Court said the test whether a Chief Minister had ceased to command the confidence of the majority was in the House, not outside of it. Sulaiman said in Nizar’s case, the former MB did not go through such process to warrant a resignation. Nizar could first advise the Sultan to dissolve the House after losing a confidence vote. If the Sultan used his discretion not to dissolve the House, only then Nizar has to tender his resignation together with his executive councillors.

Abdul Gani said Nizar had lost the majority, from 31 to 28 and as such no longer commanded the confidence of the majority. He said the Sultan had conducted his own enquiry like interviewing the 31 assemblymen, including the three who crossed over, to come to a conclusion. Abdul Gani conceded that Nizar could not be sacked or dismissed but he is deemed to have resigned once the political numbers were against him. He said the Sultan, a former Lord President, acted in accordance with the Constitution or else he would have abdicated his duty.

Zambry’s counsel Datuk Cecil Abraham went one step ahead and said it was not the Sultan who dismissed Nizar but the constitutional provision provides that Nizar’s position was vacated. The arguments before Justice Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim relied mainly on three constitutional cases, including Ningkan, emanting from Sabah and Sarawak.

If Abdul Aziz rules in favour of Nizar, it means he agrees with the principle propounded in the Ningkan case. However, as a judge of coordinate jurisdiction, he is not bound to follow the Ningkan case law if the facts in the Nizar-Zambry matter are distinguishable.

A verdict for Zambry would indicate that the ruling government’s position would always be shaky when the majority between them and the opposition in either a State Assembly or the Dewan Rakyat is close like the case in Perak.

18 replies on “Judgment Day for Nizar and Zambry: What will happen tomorrow?”

  1. It would seem that all our commentators here have severely underestimated the power of the independent Judge. The High Court today allowed YB Nizar's application and declared him the rightful Menteri Besar of Perak. Naturally, the other side have said they will appeal.

    It was a little naughty of Lord Bobo to put this piece up, but regrettably it shows that our judicial institutions have a long way to go before they can command the respect of the rakyat.

    Too much has happened in the past for an easy fix, but more decisions made in a transparent manner, after all sides have been given a chance to have their say coupled with reasoned judgments honestly arrived at will go a very long way indeed in restoring the lost lustre.

  2. the verdict of our court is like payslip. you dont need to open to see what is inside. you already know even before it was printed.

    it is a "PAYSLIP JUDGEMENT"……………

  3. God will forsee you in akhirat if you not fair in your judgement, so you as a muslim think twice because your death will be at any moment…….

  4. They will rule in favour of that "mamak" fella. They will forever rule in favour of all corrupted fellas…..!!!

    You tell me which case has ever been fair………..!!!!

    Think……………..!!!!!!!!!!

  5. Fairdinkum ,

    give Nisar a fair go and make a sounding verdict that verberates in every sound thinking Malaysian

    souls.

  6. What do u think?The answer would be very clear that the illegal will become legal unless the judge wants to try to be thrown out from the court by the " athorised" policemen like perak legal speaker.

  7. I am not a lawyer but I can predict with 100% accuracy that the ruling by the judge will be in favor of Zambry. It is a foregone conclusion that you are never going to get any real justice in a K-court. Mr. fixit (V Tan) has already sealed the verdict. As a law-abiding citizen, we will vote in GE13 to elect PR into Perak. I am not going to lose any sleep. All my neighbors and all my colleagues and friends are all voting for PR. Reformasi!!!!!!!!

  8. We have to wait for the next GE,be patient.They could have win the battlebut they already lost the war.4 votes from immediate me ok

  9. Money can buy many, but not all ! that's why you need C4. You can buy the cheap Jelapang prostitue, she sell you sex but you can't buy love. You can win Perak but you lost the next Malaysia….

    The BN is seriously stupid in this, why sacrify almost everything? for a piece of peanut! Not worth it, dude!

  10. Anyway whether the verdit is favour for any party, it still bound to file the case up to the apex court again. Again this case is going to the appeal court for another ruleing which means there is still no ending to this case. Even after the apex court, either side can still appeal to the supreme court for another final verdit. So to really cut the story short, why dont the court ask both party to dissolve the state assembly and once again let the people choose the leader of their own. Let the people be the judge and then both party will have to respect the people verdict.

  11. I thought Gani Patail had along been arguing for Zambery and not as an intervenor to alleged by him. for good measure, Zambery should have included Gani patail as one of his counsels and compensated the Gov't for the loss of tme Gani spent in court. He is of no assistance to the court but of immense assistance to Zambery's case with his screwed reasoning.

    if by his submission BN has a majority, then the property thing to do is to file for a motion of no confidence.

    It is clear as day follows night that there is no provision in the Fed or State Const for a constitutional monarchy to dismiss the PM/MB. It would have far reaching consequences in the Fed or State Capital if this were so.

    The Ruler can only act at his discretion on two matters; appointment of MB and witholding of consent. These two are explicitly and clearly written in the Fed and State Consti. Just follow the Consti and everything will be ok and advised the warring parties to agree in dissolving the constitution.

    If there is unseen hands which tries to interfere or direct the Judge, then Zamberi's illegal position will be legitimized but at great cost. The public's perception of the judiciary is that it could never recover from its 1988 debacled and that Judges still pander to the whims of Umno's ministers.

  12. What do you expect from a BN court?

    surely the rakyat already know the result,

    but those BN morons are still playing thier wayang kulit,

    they think the rakyat stupid enough for them to cheat,

    Like the one "altantuya" hiding behind the wayang kulit screen,

    he really believe that rakyat will not suspect that it is he behind the screen,

    what a bloddy moron !

    and don't forget,

    he got all the script for the court,

    like the abdul razak baginda case,

    so don't expect too much from the court.

    they are just that rubbish's puppet.

  13. I presume it would rule ini favour of UMNO/BN because this is a bolehland country. It is their way to be the winner whatever the cause is they won’t care. We will finish them during the 13th General Election in less than four years time. I pray to all our supporters as well as the Malaysian people to bring down their proud ways of doing thing which is impossible. Let us begin from now until it is achieved. Let us strive and persevere to the end.

  14. No way Nizar goin to win tomorrow!!It tooks Anwar Ibrahim 6 years in Sg. Buluh just to get a fair judge!!No judge wants to be transfer..

  15. Money speaks the loudest and is more than a currency. It can make mothers sell their babies and babies sell the mothers.

    Although it is not the most important thing in life, it nevertheless holds a position next to oxygen.

  16. You can bet your last bottom dollar, the verdict will be as surely like the sun rises from the EAST, that it will go in favour of Belakan pintu MB zombie.
    In Malaysia, we only have kangaroo court where the laws of the jumgle reign supreme!

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