PERAK | Zambry is MB, rules court

{Details of the Federal Court ruling is unavailable.}

PUTRAJAYA, May 22 - The Court of Appeal today returned a unanimous decision that Barisan Nasional's Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir is the rightful Perak mentri besar, ruling that his Pakatan Rakyat rival Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddinn had ceased to command the majority in the Perak state assembly.

The judges also ruled that the Sultan was right in appointing Zambry the MB and that there was no need for a vote of no confidence in the House against Nizar.

The three-member Bench comprising Justices Md Raus Shariff, Zainun Ali and Ahmad Maarop delivered judgment after hearing submissions from both parties yesterday.

However, the Court of Appeal decision is not expected to bring an end to the crisis in Perak as the parties can still appeal to the Federal Court.

This afternoon, security at the Court of Appeal was tight with police taking extra precautions in allowing people into the courtroom.

Nizar's counsel Sulaiman Abdullah said he would be filing an appeal.

Hundreds of PR supporters gathered briefly outside the court complex after the ruling was pronounced, and shouted slogans to back Nizar.

Neither Nizar nor Zambry were present in court today.

The DAP's Lim Kit Siang, who was present in court, said today's decision could spark more unhappiness with the administration of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Najib is seen as the man who engineered the Perak power grab in February that plunged the state into a constitutional crisis.

Lim said the best solution remains the dissolution of the state assembly to pave the way for fresh elections.

Yesterday Nizar had also said he wanted fresh elections whatever the court decision today was.

Last week the Kuala Lumpur High Court had ruled that Nizar was the rightful mentri besar because according to the state constitution the only way to remove an MB was through a vote of no confidence in the legislature.

The Sultan, the court ruled, could not dismiss a state's chief executive.

The Court of Appeal disagreed today, and accepted Zambry's argument that Nizar had already lost the support of a majority of the assembly when he went to seek the Sultan's consent for the legislature to be dissolved.

The Malaysian Insider