comment At the core of the Perak crisis is the issue of whether the forced removal of Menteri Besar Nizar Mohd Jamaluddin from his post was constitutional. If it was not, then Nizar is still the menteri besar.

The answer to this question would depend on:

a. whether Nizar had lost the support of the majority in the state assembly, and if he had,

b. whether the sultan had the power to dismiss him.

Let us firstly look at the issue of whether Nizar had lost his majority. At a press conference on Feb 4 at 1640 hours in Putrajaya, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Barisan Nasional (BN) had the majority to take over the Perak government as the assembly was tied at 28 vs 28 with three ‘friendly independents’.