Perak Pakatan Rakyat is staging a three-day hunger strike beginning Tuesday to protest Barisan Nasional’s controversial takeover of the state government in February.

The event will kick off at the Perak DAP headquarters in Ipoh at 10am on Tuesday before ending on Thursday during maghrib prayers at the PAS headquarters, which is located nearby.

Ousted Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and ousted state assembly speaker V Sivakumar are expected to officiate the event on Tuesday.

The hunger strike will involved a number of Pakatan state assemblypersons, though it cannot be confirmed how many will eventually join the action.

In a statement today, Pantai Remis assemblyperson Nga Kor Ming said that the hunger strike was a peaceful way of showing that the people of Perak are adamant that fresh elections must be held to determine the rightful state government.

“A democratic government must have the mandate of the people. The people don’t want a judge to determine their government, which should be left in the hands of 2.4 million Perakians,” he said.

Claim to power hinges on three defectors

Nga added that the hunger strike was an opportunity for Perakians to express their dissatisfaction over the political impasse and to demand for fresh elections.

He stressed that BN’s claim to power hinges upon three defectors from Pakatan who had betrayed the public trust, of which two were being tried for corruption.

“Such a government doesn’t have the moral authority to administer a state,” said Nga.

In another development, Nga, who is also Taiping MP, said that he would be tabling a motion in Parliament for a royal commission to probe the May 7 state assembly sitting fiasco.

The focal point for this commission will be Sivakumar’s forceful removal and the presence of weapons in the state assembly, said Nga.

Parliament is expected to reconvene in June.