The move by BN-appointed Perak Speaker R Ganesan to call for a budget sitting on Oct 28 seems to be on the wrong footing and raises more questions than answers to the called-for controversial assembly.

Ousted Pakatan Mentri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin chaired a Pakatan press conference on the legal implications of Ganesan in calling for the budget sitting, at the state Pas' headquarters here today.

scah uuca talk 141205 nga kor ming The media meeting was also attended by DAP state secretary and Pantai Remis assemblyperson Nga Kor Ming (left) and other Pakatan leaders.

"Ganesan is an illegal speaker who was installed by BN in the May 7 sitting after forcefully removing the legal Pakatan speaker V Sivakumar from his speaker chair," alleged Nizar.

"The illegal speaker (Ganesan) was still practicing as a lawyer when he took office and as such he has contravened Section 36A (5) of the Laws of the Constitution of Perak which disqualifies him from holding the office of the state speaker," Nizar reasoned.

Section 36A (5) states that "a member who is elected to be the speaker shall be disqualified from holding such office if after three months of his election to such office, does not resign from his former profession".

Nizar said that Ganesan was appointed by BN assemblypersons as state speaker on May 7 during the controversial assembly sitting and that he should have resigned from his profession as a practising lawyer by, on or before Aug 7.

According to Nizar, Ganesan, however only sent in his official resignation as a lawyer on Aug 13 and to back his claim, Nizar produced photocopies of the Malaysian Bar Council official press statement on the membership status of R Ganesan, to press members.

The Bar Council press release issued by its secretary George Varughese on 24 Aug 2009 outlined the events leading to Ganesan's status as a lawyer from Aug 11 to Aug 17.

  • On 11 Aug 2009, the Bar Council received an official request from Chan Kok Keong of Ms Chan & Associates vide the Bar Council Search Form seeking confirmation on the membership status of Dato' Ganesan A/L Retanam as at 11 Aug 2009.
  • On 12 Aug 2009, the Bar Council, after checking its records, confirmed that Dato' Ganesan was in active practice as at 11 Aug 2009 and was in possession of a valid ‘Annual and Practising' Certificate.
  • On 13 Aug 2009, the Bar Council received a fax from Dato Ganesan dated Aug 6 notifying the Bar Council that he had ceased practice "from the date of 6 Aug 2009".
  • On 17 Aug 2009, Dato Ganesan filed his Notice of Cessation of Practice as an Advocate and Solicitor together with a statutory declaration affirmed on 17 Aug 2009.
  • On 17 Aug 2009, the Bar Council acknowledged receipt of Dato Ganesan's letter dated 6 Aug 2009 and his Notice of Cessation and Statutory Declaration dated 17 Aug 2009.
mohammad nizar jamaluddin Nizar (right) also pointed out that Ganesan did not take his oath of office at the Assembly sitting on May 7 as stated under Section 36A (1A)(a) of the Perak Constitution which says that "any person elected as Speaker who is not a member of the Legislative Assembly shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe before the Assembly an oath of office".

The budget notice issued by BN assembly secretary Zambry Mohd Ramly, dated Oct 12, received flak from the Pakatan leaders.

Nizar said "I received the notice only yesterday (Oct 14) and I was told to prepare both the oral and written question motions on the same day and return the same to the assembly secretary by Oct 14.

Insufficient notice given

"Even in Parliament, we are given 14 days for us to prepare the questions to be debated but here we are expected to perform the miracle within a day which is both not possible and logical," he reasoned.

"When the date for the budget sitting is announced, the draft copy of the proposed budget together with the notice has to be sent to every member of the House to study and prepare for the budget debate.

"However, only a few Pakatan members have received the notice from the secretary without the draft copy which is by law, wrong," he argued.

Nga also pointed out that many former Pakatan executive members including Sitiawan assemblyperson Ngeh Koo Ham have not received the budget notice until today.

r ganesan 130509 He said "This is a mockery of the state laws and shows that the illegal BN speaker (Ganesan) (left) is ignorant of the Standing Orders of the Perak State Legislative Assembly".

The Pakatan members of the House are fully prepared to meet and face the problems and troubles expected on Oct 28.

Nizar also clarified that the notice issued by Pakatan Speaker V Sivakumar yesterday did not mention a budget agenda or debate on it, which is in sharp contrast to BN's notice specifying the 2010 state budget.

He said that as BN had considered the controversial May 7 assembly sitting as legal, then they have to convene an assembly sitting by November 7 (the law states that an assembly sitting must take place every six months after the last sitting).

According to Nizar, Pakatan had its famous assembly sitting under a tree on March 3 and the second Pakatan sitting was on Sept 2 in a hotel (after they were prevented from entering the assembly by police).

Nizar stated that the next Pakatan assembly sitting comes only in March next year.

Taking questions from reporters, when asked what will happen if the intended budget does not take place, Nizar replied "Then they have to dissolve the assembly and call for fresh elections".

When asked which sitting arrangement they will take (according to assembly sitting arrangement of the House members, the right side of the Speaker is alloted to the state government of the day while the left is given to the opposition) Nga replied," The sitting arrangement is not important, as long as the proper legal proceedings of the House takes place on Oct 28".