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Categories
| Anwar: Emergency sitting in carpark valid, urge for fresh polls |
| Politics & Government 2009 | |||
| Written by Yong Min Wei | |||
| Tuesday, 03 March 2009 17:33 | |||
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He said the emergency sitting was legal as it was convened by the Speaker V Sivakumar with a proper agenda in place, adding that notices to the elected representatives were delivered accordingly as per the Standing Orders. He also said it was at the Speaker’s discretion to have the meeting at another venue should the building that houses the state legislative assembly was unavailable and that motions passed during the sitting were valid so long as the sitting procedures were observed. "What difference does it make should a sitting be held in a car park or underneath a tree? In my case, Judge Augstine Paul once convened a trial at the Sungai Buloh prison, technically," Anwar told a press conference at the parliament lobby today. Previously, at least three elected representatives have taken their oath of office at detention centres with the presence of the Speaker or representative of the House as they were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) when elected into office. According to Anwar, the Speaker had no choice but to have the sitting at another venue as he was illegally barred by the police from entering the state secretariat, stressing that the position of Speaker was not contemptuous in the Perak political crisis and that he cannot be prevented from entering his own premises. However, some news reports have claimed that the Speaker was allowed to enter the State Secretariat compound after some negotiations but the state assemblymen were barred. Nevertheless, it was unclear if the Speaker could use the State Legislative Assembly for the sitting if indeed he was allowed to enter the compound. This morning, the Speaker in his official garb, convened the emergency sitting at a carpark some 200 metres from the state secretariat building. Three motions were unanimously passed, which include the dissolution of the assembly to pave way for elections in the state. Anwar pointed out that fresh elections was the only way to end the political stalemate in Perak, adding that the democratic process through the ballot box together must be respected "when the situation is getting out of control". The Opposition leader said the situation in Perak was a test of strength on the separation of powers of the institutions that consists the executive, judiciary and the legislature, noting that some civil servants have been made used by Umno in the Perak political crisis. "In the past, you should go back to people to get a fresh mandate. Otherwise you have a series of gangsters preventing you from entering parliament," he added. Meanwhile, Anwar said he had written to the Advisory Panel of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to know the status of the investigation on his July 2008 police report against Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan on abuse of power. He said there seemed to be reluctance and prolonged delay by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), now renamed MACC, on the investigation of abused of powers over the infamous black-eye incident in 1998, stressing that the perpetrators must be brought to justice. "I have circulated the relevant documents to the press including a copy of the second medical report on the black-eye incident which clearly suggested fraud and attempts to conceal evidence that were not mentioned in the Royal Commission report," he said. Anwar also said he planned to write to each of the 12 Advisory Panel members of the MACC to ensure that there would be a proper study into alleged abuse of powers, adding that he had furnished the MACC with sufficient and convincing documents on the allegation.
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