Barisan Nasional Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir said the opposition were the ones who lacked understanding of democracy by questioning his proposal that 28 opposition state assemblymen vacate their seats for by-elections to be held in their constituencies.

He said they were shallow in their understanding of democracy by demanding that he seek the dissolution of the state legislative

assembly.

"They think zambry abdul kadir interview 200409 10 my suggestion is ridiculous. But who are the ones who have been asking for the state assembly to be dissolved? Not me. I've not been disturbing them," he said after chairing the state exco meeting here today.

Zambry ( right ) was asked by reporters to comment on the opposition's statement that his challenge for former menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and 27 other assemblymen was shallow and ridiculous.

Besides that, the opposition also claimed that the state government under BN had not only failed to attract foreign investors but Perak had also become the third poorest state after Sabah and Terengganu.

Opposition has 'selective memory'

Zambry said the opposition must remember that in the 2008 general election, DAP, PKR and PAS were small parties that respectively won 18, seven and six state seats compared with BN's 28.

"None of the three opposition parties had a majority but to form the state government, they formed a pact but not under a registered political entity.Nevertheless, we accepted it and did not object. But they lost the majority in the assembly after that."

Zambry said besides the baseless accusations thrown at the BN state government, the opposition also did not feel guilty about lying to the people.

"They say Perak is not developing and that investors are scared to come here. The truth is, they (opposition) are worried as their position is increasingly under threat. I will announce the amount of investments that came in during their administration and during BN's rule," he said.

Meanwhile, senior state executive councillor Hamidah Osman revealed that the previous Pakatan-led state government had rejected the proposed reduction of land premiums for Papan Baru New Village involving 43 applicants.

She said the 43 applicants were squatters who were relocated from the Papan Lama New Village, near here.

"This case was approved by the BN state government on Jan 5, 2008 for further action. This was before the state assembly was dissolved for the general election to be held.

"Unfortunately, after the opposition pact took over the state's administration, they rejected the applications just because they were approved for further action by the previous BN government."

However, she said, today's state exco meeting approved the 43 applications and were given a 50 percent discount from the normal premium for the land in the village. - Bernama