Pakatan wants the forthcoming Perak state assembly sitting on Aug 3 to be democratically conducted in the interest of the public, said senior Pakatan leader Ngeh Koo Ham.

dap pc on keshvinder quit party 160610 ngeh koo ham Ngeh ( left ) told Malaysiakini today that all 27 Pakatan elected members will attend and he wants a safe and conducive atmosphere where the spirit of democracy will prevail.

"They must allow free speech and not switch off our microphones like they did at the last assembly. They must also answer all our oral and written questions," emphasised the state DAP chief.

The Beruas MP explained that when an MP poses questions during a Parliament session and if it is not possible to give the answers immediately, written replies are sent to the MP.

However this is not practised in the Perak state assembly.

"We had submitted 216 questions at the last assembly sitting and only a few questions were answered. Until today, no written answers for the rest have been forwarded to us," lamented the Sitiawan assemblyperson.

Ngeh also wants the House to give equal opportunities to both sides instead of answering BN questions first and Pakatan questions pushed to the last.

He added that BN must not ask the police force to occupy the state secretariat building - the Perak Legislative Assembly is situated on the second floor - thus creating an atmosphere of fear where Pakatan representatives cannot express their views freely.

r ganesan 130509 In Pakatan's eyes, BN elected assembly speaker R Ganesan ( left ) is not the legally appointed speaker but in the interest of the people, they will acknowledge him as only a chairperson.

Pakatan elected representatives recognise only V Sivakumar who was forcefully ousted by BN during the infamous May 7, 2009 assembly sitting, as their legally appointed speaker.

Ngeh said that Sivakumar will also issue his own notices to all the 59 members of the House to attend the Aug 3 assembly sitting.

He added this time around there will be two copies of Pakatan questions submitted - one set to Sivakumar as the legal Pakatan speaker and another set to the state secretariat.

"We do not want the lame excuse that BN gave during the last sitting, that the questions were not officially submitted to the state secretariat AND hence they were not answered," said Ngeh.

Combination of old and new questions

He said the questions will be a combination of the old questions posed at the last sitting plus some new ones.

He revealed that Pakatan will be asking if the BN Perak government had approved 14,000 hectares of land near Lenggong to Rahman Hydraulic Tin Bhd for tin prospecting.

Other questions include why timber concessions in the state are not open for tender which will ensure more income for the state's coffers, and the list of persons or companies who were approved land in the last year since BN took over power in the state.

When contacted, Ganesan said all questions will be answered according to the rules and regulations of the House.

"The rules and regulations of the Dewan will be strictly followed and we want the Pakatan members to conduct themselves in a peaceful and responsible manner," said Ganesan.

As to the switching off of the assembly mikes which the opposition claimed happened to them at the last assembly, Ganesan asked "Why should we switch off their mikes, what is the necessity?"