Soi Lek Backs Fresh Polls In Perak

By Lee Wei Lian

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has joined several of his Barisan Nasional (BN) colleagues in calling for a fresh state election to resolve the political quagmire in Perak.

“Personally, I feel that a fresh state election will be the best way to resolve this stalemate, Let the rakyat decide and once and for all, we resolve this problem, which is not doing anybody any good,” said Dr Chua in an entry on his blog on Tuesday.

The former health minister also says that appealing the High Court ruling declaring Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful mentri besar could be a long drawn-out affair.

Other BN leaders that have called for fresh polls to resolve the stalemate include Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan, Umno MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Dr Hsu Dar Ren, a central committee member of Gerakan.

While Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has not called for the state assembly to be dissolved, he nevertheless appears to have distanced himself from what could be a political liability as perception mounts that BN is attempting to thwart the will of the people and cling to power.

He said on Tuesday said that he will leave it to BN’s Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir to decide what to do.

Teng stressed yesterday that by giving back the people “who obviously want a say in the matter” the power of choosing their government, BN can once again show that it upholds the principle of democracy and that it has the best interest of the people at heart.

Tengku Razaleigh this week reiterated his stand that according to the Constitution, a change of government can only be brought about by democratic means — either through the ballot box or through a formal vote of confidence in the elected legislative assembly and not through the court system.

Teng, however, was criticised by his Umno colleagues for his remarks.

“In this situation, he should instead encourage and support BN,” Kubu Gajah assemblyman Datuk Seri Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar told Bernama.

“Doesn’t Teng know that BN has the majority voice in Perak? Doesn’t he know that the crisis in Perak is due to Pakatan Rakyat’s refusal to accept the fact that they have lost the majority?”

No end is in sight for the Perak political crisis, now in its fourth month.

On Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had declared Nizar as the rightful mentri besar, saying he could only be removed via a vote of no confidence and ordered Zambry to vacate the mentri besar’s office, which he did.

Zambry, however, managed to obtain a stay of the declaration the very next day and reported back to work yesterday.

Nizar, who is seeking permission from the Sultan of Perak to dissolve the assembly, is now applying to set aside the stay, in a hearing scheduled for next Monday.