'Sultan was right not to dissolve Perak assembly' - Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Md Raus Sharif said....

'Sultan was right not to dissolve Perak assembly'

PUTRAJAYA: Sultan Azlan Shah was right in not dissolving the Perak State Legislative Assembly in February because it was barely one year old, Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Md Raus Sharif said.

In his 49-page judgement dated June 2 released Friday, Justice Raus said that in order for a dissolution of the assembly to take effect under Article 36(2) of the Perak State Constitution as requested by the then Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, the assembly must be in the conclusion of the five-year term when a general election was contemplated.

"It was well-known fact that the general election had been held barely one year ago," he said, adding that Nizar had applied the wrong provision when requesting for the dissolution of the assembly.

He said Article 36 of the Perak Constitution was only a general provision empowering the Sultan to prorogue or dissolve the assembly after the conclusion of the five-year term.

Nizar should have instead requested for dissolution of the assembly under Article 16(6) which states that if the mentri besar loses the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly, then, unless at his request of the Sultan, dissolves the assembly, he shall tender the resignation of the Executive Council.

Raus also said that the question of Perak having two mentri besar did not arise because Article 16(6) demands that once the mentri besar was made to know that he had lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly, he should take the honourable way out by tendering his resignation.

"If the mentri besar refuses or does not tender his resignation and the resignation of the Executive Council, as had happened in this case, the fact remains that the Executive Council is dissolved (which includes the mentri besar) on account of the mentri besar losing the confidence of the majority of the members of the legislative assembly," he said.

Therefore, it was unnecessary for the Sultan to remove Nizar and the other members of the Executive Council, he said.

He said Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir's appointment as the mentri besar to succeed Nizar was made according to the Perak Constitution and established democratic practice and convention.

"The Sultan of Perak in exercise of his royal prerogative under Article 16(2) of the Perak State Constitution is at liberty to appoint another mentri besar to replace Nizar," he said.

Raus said the Sultan, however, must appoint someone who has the command and the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly and in this case, there was no doubt that Zambry had the majority support of 31 members out of 59 members of the assembly.

"The circumstances in the present case clearly shows that on Feb 5, Nizar no longer had the confidence of the majority of members of the assembly. There were signed letters from 31 members pledging support to Barisan Nasional which were presented to the Sultan," he said.

He also said Article 16(6) did not express mandatory requirement that there must be a motion of no confidence passed by the assembly against a mentri besar before he ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members.

"The fact that a mentri besar ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly can be established by other means. It cannot solely be confined to the vote taken in the assembly," he said.

Meanwhile, Justice Ahmad Maarop who presided over the case with with Raus and Datuk Zainun Ali said Nizar must tender his resignation once he lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly and when Sultan refused his request to dissolve the assembly.

"His refusal to tender his resignation and the resignation of the Executive Council was not merely a breach of convention and undemocratic but more importantly, it contravened the clear mandatory constitutional command under Article 16(6) of the Perak Constitution and, therefore, unconstitutional.

"Thus, since he had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly, it is implicit that on his refusal to tender the resignation, the Executive Council is thereby dissolved and the office of the menteri besar vacated."

Ahmad said he was also of the view that the Sultan's power to dismiss the mentri besar was implicit in the event the mentri besar refused to resign although he has ceased to command the confidence of the majority and the Sultan withholds his request to dissolve the assembly.

"In my judgment, the situation confronting His Royal Highness in the state of Perak was one such situation, and His Royal Highness had, in that critical situation rightly exercised his constitutional powers provided under the State Constitution, which exercise was without any doubt, solely for the best interest of the people of Perak," he said.

Datuk Zainun Ali's judgement is expected to be released on Monday.

The three Court of Appeal judges had on May 22 ruled that Zambry was the legitimate mentri besar of Perak, reversing an earlier High Court decision in Nizar's favour.

The Federal Court is to hear Nizar's application for leave to appeal on July 9 and 10.

Nizar, 52, was appointed Perak mentri besar on March 17 last year after the DAP-Parti Keadilan Rakyat-Pas alliance won 31 seats in the state assembly in 12th general election.

Less than a year later, they lost three members who declared themselves independent and lent support to Barisan Nasional that then had 28 seats in the assembly after a representative who had jumped ship earlier made an about turn.

Sultan Azlan Shah then asked Nizar to step down and swore in Zambry after finding that Barisan Nasional had the majority in the state assembly.

Following this, Nizar initiated the legal action to seek a declaration he is the rightful menteri besar and an injunction to bar Zambry from discharging his duties.

source : Bernama

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Tindakan Sultan betul tidak bubar DUN Perak

PUTRAJAYA: Tindakan Sultan Perak Sultan Azlan Shah untuk tidak membubarkan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak adalah betul kerana dewan itu baru sahaja berumur setahun, kata Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan, Datuk Md Raus Sharif.

Dalam penghakiman 49 muka surat bertarikh 2 Jun yang dikeluarkan hari ini, Hakim Raus berkata bagi membolehkan dewan itu dibubarkan mengikut Artikel 36 (2) Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak seperti yang dimohon oleh bekas Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, dewan itu perlu menamatkan tempoh lima penggal apabila satu pilihan raya bakal diadakan.

"Faktanya sudah diketahui umum bahawa pilihan umum baru sahaja diadakan setahun lalu," katanya dalam penghakiman bertarikh 2 Jun yang dikeluarkan Jumaat.

Hakim Raus berkata peruntukan yang dipohon Nizar adalah tidak betul apabila memohon supaya dewan dibubarkan.

Dalam penghakimannya, Raus berkata Nizar telah memohon pembubaran itu mengikut Artikel 36, yang adalah peruntukan biasa yang memberi kuasa kepada Sultan untuk memprorog atau membubarkan dewan selepas tempoh lima penggal berakhir.

Dalam penghakimannya hari ini, Raus berkata persoalan Perak mempunyai dua menteri besar tidak timbul dan ini kerana Artikel 16 (6) menuntut bahawa sebaik menteri besar itu tahu beliau tidak mendapat keyakinan di kalangan anggota dewan, beliau sepatutnya mengambil langkah yang terhormat dengan meletakkan jawatan.

"Jika menteri besar enggan atau tidak menyerahkan peletakan jawatannya dan jawatan Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan, seperti dalam kes ini, ia tetap kekal bahawa Ahli Majlis Mesyuarat telah dibubarkan (yang termasuk menteri besar) bahawa majoriti angota dewan telah hilang keyakinan terhadap menteri besar itu." katanya.

Oleh itu, Raus berkata oleh itu Sultan tidak perlu untuk menyingkirkan Nizar dan anggota lain majlis mesyuarat kerajaan.

Katanya pelantikan Dr Zambry dibuat mengikut Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak dan amalan demokrasi.

"Sultan Perak, dalam menjalankan kuasa prerogatifnya mengikut Artikel 16 (2) Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak, adalah bebas untuk melantik menteri besar yang lain menggantikan Nizar," katanya.

Raus berkata Sultan, bagaimanapun, mesti melantik seseorang yang mendapat keyakinan majoriti anggota dewan negeri dan dalam kes ini, tidak syak lagi Dr Zambry mendapat sokongan majoriti daripada 31 daripada 59 anggota dewan.

"Keadaan dalam kes ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa pada 5 Feb, Nizar tidak lagi mendapat sokongan majoriti daripada anggota dewan negeri. Surat yang menyatakan sokongan 31 anggota dewan kepada Barisan Nasional telah diserahkan kepada Sultan Perak," katanya.

Dalam penghakimannya, Raus berkata Artikel 16 (6) tidak menunjukkan keperluan mandatori bahawa usul undi tidak percaya yang diluluskan oleh dewan terhadap seorang menteri besar sebelum ia gagal menguasai keyakinan daripada majoriti anggota dewan.

"Sebenarnya apabila seorang menteri besar gagal menguasai keyakinan daripada majoriti anggota dewan boleh ditentukan dengan cara lain. Ia tidak perlu semata-mata bagi undi yang dibuat di dalam dewan," katanya.

Sementara itu, Hakim Ahmad Maarop, yang bersidang dalam kes itu bersama Raus, dan Zainun berkata Nizar mesti meletak jawatan sebaik gagal mendapat keyakinan majoriti anggota dewan dan apabila Sultan enggan memenuhi permohonannya untuk membubarkan dewan.

"Keenganannya untuk meletak jawatannya dan anggota Majlis Mesyuarat kerajaan bukanlah satu pelanggaran konvensyen dan tidak demokratik tetapi lebih penting, ia melanggar arahan perlembagaan mandatori di bawah Artikel 16(6) Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri dan oleh itu tidak berperlembagan.

"Oleh itu, oleh kerana ia tidak dapat menguasai keyakinan majoriti anggota dewan, ianya tersirat bahawa keenganannya untuk meletak jawatan, anggota majlis mesyuarat kerajaan adalah terbubar dan jawatan menteri besar dikosongkan.".

Ahmad berkata beliau juga berpandangan bahawa kuasa Sultan untuk membuang menteri adalah tersirat semasa menteri besar enggan meletak jawatan walaupun ia gagal mendapat keyakinan majoriti dan Sultan menggantung permintaannya untuk membubarkan dewan.

"Dalam penghakiman saya, keadaan yang dihadapi Baginda di Perak adalah satu-satunya keadaan dan baginda dalam keadaan kritikal telah melaksanakan kuasa perlembagaannya mengikut undang-undang tubuh negeri, yang telah dilaksanakan tanpa ragu-ragu, semata-mata untuk kepentingan rakyat negeri Perak," katanya.

Penghakiman Datuk Zainun Ali pula akan dikeluarkan pada Isnin.

Pada 22 Mei, Mahkamah Rayuan dengan tiga hakim yang bersidang diketuai Raus membenarkan rayuan yang dibawa oleh pesaing Nizar, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir dan memutuskan bahawa Dr Zambry adalah menteri besar Perak yang sah.

Mahkamah Persekutuan dijangka mendengar permintaan Nizar untuk membuat rayuan pada 9 dan 10 Julai.

Mohamad Nizar dilantik sebagai menteri besar pada 17 Mac tahun lepas selepas pakatan pembangkang DAP-PKR-PAS memenangi 31 kerusi dalam pilihan raya umum ke-12.

Tidak sampai setahun, mereka kehilangan tiga anggota parti yang mengisytiharkan diri mereka sebagai anggota Bebas dan menyokong Barisan Nasional (BN).

Sultan Azlan Shah kemudian meminta Nizar untuk meletak jawatan dan melantik Dr Zambry selepas mendapati bahawa BN mempunyai majoriti dalam dewan negeri.

Berikutan itu, Nizar memohon supaya mahkamah mengisytihar dirinya sebagai Menteri Besar Perak yang sah dan untuk mendapatkan injunksi melarang Zambry daripada melaksanakan tugas sebagai Menteri Besar.

source : Bernama