Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today slammed the police for setting up roadblocks along the main road leading to the state secretariat to prevent Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar from calling an emergency seating.

However, the assembly convened at a car park despite attempts to thwart the seating.

anwar ibrahim special briefing 280209 “What else can the speaker do? Now they are saying the clerk of the assembly can override the speaker... I want ask the speaker in Parliament whether the secretary can overrule his decision,” said Anwar.

Anwar, at the Parliament lobby, said that the speaker “was duly-appointed and he has the authority” to call for the assembly meeting.

Mocking the BN government in Perak, Anwar said: “You don't want a state assembly, you don't want a dissolution and you don't want a state election... so what else do you want?”

The Permatang Pauh MP said although there is a possibility that the Pakatan Rakyat government could be voted out, a “proper session” has to convene.

“Our stand is to order for a motion for the dissolution of the state assembly and our calls are legitimate because the situation there is no longer under control,” said Anwar.

“We dare to face the people and therefore, we want the people to decide who they want as their representative... the situation in Perak reflects on the authority and the transparency of our administrative system,” he said.

He also expressed that the judiciary, legislative and executive bodies “has been reshuffled to strengthened the hold of one party”.

perak state govt crisis state adun assemble under the rain tree 030309 Asked whether the assembly that convened was legal, Anwar said: “What difference does it make if it is in the car park?”

“This was not his (Sivakumar’s) choice but they barred him and that was illegal,” said Anwar.

'Police taking a political stand '

He also gave an example of his court case in which judge Augustine Paul decided to conduct it in the Sungai Buloh prison.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also lashed out at the police accusing them of “taking sides”.

lim guan eng pc 270209 “When Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh was ambushed in Parliament, the police claimed they had no authority within the Parliament's vicinity, but when the Bersih rally took place in 2007 there were arrests made in Parliament,” said Lim.

He added that even the courts had no jurisdiction to interfere with matters relating to the Parliament or state assemblies.

“The police are taking a political stand by preventing a legally constituted assembly from convening,” he said.

In a related development opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said that he has written to every member on the Malaysian Anti-Corrupting Commission (MACC) panel urging them to investigate the involvement of Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail and Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan in the 1998 “black-eye” incident.

Two weeks ago, Anwar had lodged a police report claiming that the AG and the IGP were involved in a conspiracy to fabricate an arrest warrant which led to his arrest in 1998.

“They are taking too much time and it has been delayed... I don't know if it is because of fear or favour because it implicates the AG and the IGP.

“I hope they would take immediate action to study the case or prove with evidence and documents that adduces that a clear case based on facts is not being acted upon.

“There is a clear reluctance on the part of MACC, prior to that the police because it involves the AG and the IGP, as they keep telling me that there are more important cases to handle,” said Anwar.