While the new Perak menteri besar has taken his oath, netizens have not lost hope of persuading the sultan to call for the dissolution of the Perak state assembly.

An open letter to the sultan, ‘A Plea to Defend the Voice of the People’ originally posted by popular blogger Nathaniel Tan on his blog , has emerged on cyberspace as an online petition at 8.50am today and received 1,690 signatures by 5pm.

Although the petition did not contain any explicit requests for the sultan to change his mind, it did present arguments that were in favour of fresh state elections in Perak.

malaysian law conference 291007 sultan azlan shah 1 Tan wrote: “At the very heart of the decision facing Your Royal Highness regarding the menteri besar’s request for dissolution of the state assembly are questions of the health of democracy in Malaysia, an opportunity to better Malaysia’s political culture, and a defining moment for the institution of the royalty.”

He also added that the Federal Constitution does not asks the sultan to choose sides or to decide for the people but rather, entrusts rulers with the task of arbitrating fairly between contending parties, and to safeguard the people’s sacrosanct right to choose the government that they want.

“The institution of the royalty is entrusted to protect one of the most sacred rights bestowed upon free men and women – the ability to choose their leaders.

People have not given up hope

“The concept of a constitutional monarchy was centred on situations precisely akin to the one currently facing us - a situation wherein the ruler can be relied upon to safeguard the tenets of democracy by choosing the path most likely to ensure that the resulting government accurately reflects the choice of the majority.

“The sudden change in allegiances – in one case in both directions within the space of about a week – speaks of an unhealthy and confusing culture of expediency.

“The nature and circumstances under which these defections and re-defections appear to be occurring speak not of ideological shifts, but leave space for the man on the street to suspect more sinister and foreboding motives, as well as prevailing suspicions of inducements.”

The petition was put up by Pat Lu, one of the founders of Pahlawan Volunteers, a Malaysian voluntary and advocacy group.

According to Pat, the fact that 1,690 people have signed the petition so far is a demonstration they have not given up hope no matter how disappointed, hurt, disillusioned or betrayed they felt.

“They still did their bit to push on. They have not given up. They have renewed my hope and made me want to push on for their sake.”