The ousted Pakatan Rakyat government in Perak will convene a special state assembly sitting soon to block Barisan Nasional’s (BN) use of public funds for administration of the state.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament today, Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming said this is because the BN government that has been sworn in is an “illegal and unconstitutional” entity.

scah uuca talk 141205 nga kor ming "We do not rule out the possibility of tabling an emergency motion that the BN government is unconstitutional. Therefore it cannot be given any public funds for its administration,” said Nga, a member of the state executive council that has been replaced.

While the Perak palace has been approached to consent to the special sitting, the date has yet to be fixed.

The only way to resolve the constitutional crisis, Nga reiterated, is by dissolving the state assembly and holding fresh elections.

V Sivakumar State assembly speaker V Sivakumar (left) , in a shocking move, has barred BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six exco members from entering the state assembly for a period ranging from 12-18 months.

The disciplinary action was taken after the seven had allegedly failed to respond adequately to a complaint that they were in ‘contempt of the state assembly’ for having taken up their posts.

Given the situation, BN now has only 21 ‘active’ assemblypersons instead of 28, while Pakatan has 28 in the House. Three other representatives are BN-friendly Independents.

Sivakumar, a DAP state assemblyperson, is still the Perak speaker as the BN has yet to convene the state assembly to replace him with one of its own.

BN is ‘desperate’

In a related development, Nga described the BN as being “so desperate” about its political position that it has been forced to seek the help of its ‘mother country’ - the United Kingdom, which ruled Perak from 1874-1957.

political party perak jumping game hopscotch He said this in response to Malaysiakini’s report that Umno is seeking the opinion of a Queen’s Counsel on constitutional issues related to BN’s takeover of the Perak government.

This shows, said Nga, that Perak Umno still “looks to the UK for help and consolation when it is in trouble and distress, like a baby crying for its mother - this baby is now almost 52 years old”, said Nga, a trained lawyer and MP for Taiping.

“This also shows that (Perak Umno) does not understand that Malaysian constitutional law is to be interpreted by Malaysians.”

Pakatan in Perak is confident that there are enough Commonwealth and local case laws that will vindicate its actions, instituted to “protect and defend the rights of people in Perak”, Nga said.

“This is done under the doctrine of constitutional supremacy and not parliamentary supremacy as practised by the United Kingdom.”

Both Pakatan and BN have been involved in one-upmanship since the state government collapsed on Feb 5, after four representatives left the Pakatan team. The state has since been embroiled in one crisis after another.