Barisan Nasional appointed menteri besar Zambry Abd Kadir has slammed his opposition counterparts for disrupting the budget sitting at the state legislative assembly today.

NONE He accused the opposition of intentionally trying to provoke BN state representatives through constant heckling during the proceedings.

“They were trying to dramatise the situation. If (they did) not, they would have no basis (for their cause),” Zambry told a press conference at his office after the ‘2-in-1 sitting’ .

Pakatan state representatives - who dispute the legitimacy of the BN government - heckled and jeered its speaker R Ganesan and tried to drown out BN politicians when they spoke in the House.

Ousted speaker V Sivakumar, sitting on the opposition bench, convened a simultaneous Pakatan ‘sitting’ which saw three motions being passed in 90 minutes.

“They wanted to provoke us into taking action but our state representatives, as usual, were civilised,” said Zambry, commending coalition colleagues for maintaining their cool.

He also claimed that Pakistan’s “new targets” were the police and the additional sergeants-at-arms brought in to beef up security for Ganesan.

NONE He dismissed Pakatan’s claim that they were roughed up at the car park by the police and that Sivakumar was choked, when they stripped him of the speaker’s robe and songkok , leaving him with just the collar of the robe (photo) .

“They are dramatising matters outside. This is their strategy in the hope that people will take note of it,” he said.

To a question, Zambry dismissed suggestions that his administration is too soft on Pakatan and has not acted against them for violating rules.

“We have tried to remain cool but we have our limits. If they cross the line, action will be taken in accordance with the law,” he said.

“Remember? They tried to suspend me without regard to the rules and laws, but we have never behaved like them.”

Speedy passage ‘not unusual’

On the speedy passage of the state 2010 budget, Zambry said this was nothing extraordinary, and instead blamed Pakatan’s refusal to participate in the proceedings, which led to the proposals being passed without debate.

NONE “Normally, feedback always comes from the opposition. But as you observed earlier, they didn’t want to follow the debate. They know that, if they debate, they are recognising the current state government.

“Our practice is to give room for them to criticise our budget. To say that the tabling of the budget was not in accordance with the norms and procedures is not true.”

Zambry added that in states such as Kedah, the budget sitting is over in two days. In Perak, there is precedence in Perak, where the budget sitting has lasted only half a day.

Zambry also urged the media to be objective when reporting events at the state assembly sitting.

“(On May 7) you saw with your own eyes, how I was mobbed by these people. I was shocked to find in the newspapers the following day that Sivakumar was portrayed as a hero.

“I know some of you need to sensationalise your articles, or people won’t read your paper or your blogs. But all I ask is for a little bit of objectivity.”