UPDATED 4.30pm Former Perak Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has refuted rumours that Perak Pakatan Rakyat was enticing Umno state assemblypersons to defect.

NONE The Bukit Gantang MP told reporters at the Parliament lobby today that such tactics were not in line with Pakatan's principles.

“We want to deny now, that this is the work of Pakatan Rakyat to influence them and start asking them to defect to our side,” said Nizar ( left ).

He added that Pakatan Rakyat was not in favour of absorbing any defectors because this was tantamount to a breach of democratic principles.

Nizar was responding to claims that several Umno state assemblypersons were dissatisfied with current Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir's leadership.

He said that should this really be the case, he urged Umno state assemblypersons to table a motion of no confidence against Zambry to force fresh state polls.

Should such a motion be tabled, Pakatan state assemblypersons would definitely support it, said Nizar.

‘Fresh polls only proper’

Nizar added that fresh polls in such a situation is the democratic way to go, saying that this is the best course of action.

"We want the rights of the people of Perak to be given back to them.

perak state govt crisis the rain tree assembly 040309 04 “We (uphold) the democratic process in Perak, and want the people of Perak to be given the right to choose their own assemblypersons," he said.

Nizar when asked, refused to name Umno members who had confided in him about the matter, saying it was  a matter of strategy and that it is "not nice" to do so.

He said that if Umno members want to resign from their party and join Pakatan, they may consider the request.

"We have to reconsider. We are keeping our hands open, but it must go through the right processes. (They) can't just jump as they please because it pollutes the politics in Malaysia.

“We want true democratic processes to be installed," he said.

 

Nizar revealed there were reasonable numbers of Umno members who have voiced out their concerns.

hee yit foong holding device at yew tian hoe in perak state assembly dewan 070509 "(They are) mostly veterans in Umno who are not (assemblypersons) and who know the history and traditions quite well, who have been keeping quiet for the past one-and-a-half years," he said.

Nizar was the Pakatan Perak menteri besar voted in during the March 2008 general election, until Barisan Nasional’s Zambry wrested the post through the defections of three three assemblypersons: Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang, right in photo ), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang).

In the aftermath of the controversial takeover, repeated calls for fresh polls for the three assemblypersons to reign have been ignored.

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