The 27 Pakatan Rakyat assemblypersons will have a meeting at state Pakatan headquarters on Thursday at 8pm to decide if they are attending the Perak state assembly sitting on Aug 3.

NONE State Pakatan chief Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin ( left ), who will chair the meeting, told Malaysiakini this on Monday. State Pakatan secretary Khalil Idham Lim confirmed this today, saying it will be a closed-door meeting and there may be no media conference afterwards.

It is speculated that all the 27 Pakatan assemblypersons will attend the sitting, which has to be held every six months under Section 10 (2) of the standing orders of the Perak legislative assembly.

Furthermore, Article 35A of the Perak state constitution states: If a member of the legislative assembly is, without leave of the speaker, absent from every sitting thereof for a period of six months, the assembly may declare his seat vacant.

The Pakatan assemblypersons received the notice of assembly sitting dated July 2 on Saturday.

BN state assembly speaker R Ganesan told Malaysiakini that the assemblypersons have been given till July 16 to submit their three oral questions and five written questions to either Ganesan's office or his assembly secretary in person or by fax or by email.

The Perak state assembly has 28 BN assemblypersons, four BN-friendly Independents and 27 Pakatan members.

Ganesan said that the four Independents - Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering), Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang) and Keshvinder Singh (Malim Nawar)  - will be allowed to sit separately during the assembly sitting on Aug 3.

The duration of the August sitting will depend on the agenda that has yet to be prepared by the BN assembly speaker.

Security at the state secretariat, which houses the Perak state legislative assembly on its second floor, will be tight to avoid any untoward incidents.

Since the BN takeover of the state government, there have been some ruckus inside and outside the assembly.