IPOH, Oct 28 – His political foes would dispute it but Perak's palace-appointed Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir is convinced he was victorious in today’s battle in the state assembly, with help from various state institutions, that frustrated the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) from reclaiming the government.
The look of jubilation on Zambry's face's showed his mood despite cat calls from PR lawmakers who saw their government toppled in the February putsch when three of their colleagues quit and supported the Barisan Nasional (BN).
In today's farcical sitting, Zambry’s 2010 budget was successfully passed with votes from all 28 BN assemblymen and three defectors in the 59-seat assembly. PR's 28 lawmakers did not vote as they did not want to endorse the 'illegal" Zambry administration.
The BN assemblymen were calm throughout the sitting in the government bench and only stood up to pass their votes and to offer occasional arguments, which were very quickly shot down by the PR assemblymen.
It was obvious throughout the two-hour long sitting that the BN’s game plan was more to irritate their enemies with their silence, instead of using fire to fight with fire not unlike the May 7 sitting that descended into chaos with each side's speaker on opposite side of the assembly hall to conduct their own proceedings.
The sitting this time was tightly guarded by a new crew of sergeants-at-arms drafted from the Ipoh City Council, whom PR said were thugs. Ganesan said it was his right to choose the sergeants-at-arms, who flanked him during the sitting.
Zambry was quick to highlight the discipline within the BN camp to the media in a press conference after the sitting was adjourned.
“I would like to thank all the BN assemblymen who maintained decorum in the House. They were cool, all cool. So be fair to us this time, please. You saw what happened,” the Pangkor assemblyman told reporters with a smile.
He took the moral high ground and graciously said that he would have loved it if the PR assemblymen had properly participated in the proceedings, particularly to debate his first budget as Mentri Besar. The Perak ruler named Zambry to replace PR's Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin who refused to quit the post.
“Usually, when a budget is debated, everyone takes part. And there are those who support it and there are those who do not," he added.
During the sitting, when BN-appointed speaker Datuk R. Ganesan opened the floor for debates, none of the PR assemblymen stood up to say a word, showing their intent not to recognise the lawyer as the assembly speaker.
Instead, the assembly erupted into a cacophony of shouting and yelling as BN assemblymen stood up to praise the budget.
Throughout the chaos, BN assemblymen tabled and passed the budget by a show of hands and without any debates. PR assemblymen, on the other hand, also carried out their own agenda by hosting their very own assembly sitting inside the hall itself.
Unfazed, the BN government continued with proceedings despite the parallel meeting by PR assemblymen who maintain they are the legal government in Perak, accusing the civil service of colluding with BN to run the Silver state.
Despite getting the budget approved in 30 minutes, Zambry said that all procedures had been followed “to a T”, which meant that the entire sitting had been properly conducted.
“The duration of a sitting does not necessarily have to go on for three or four days. The sitting can be half a day, one day, two days or however long, depending on necessity. It is also the Speaker’s prerogative,” he added, admitting that in previous years, assembly sittings usually lasted at least two or three days.
The blame, he pointed out, was not on BN but PR assemblymen.
“If they had truly wanted a healthy debate among us, I am sure that the Speaker would have given them their space to debate,” he said.
He also castigated the PR assemblymen, claiming that the opposition assemblymen had timed their entry into the hall in such a manner that it would coincide with the one-hour break that Ganesan had ordered.
When the PR assemblymen finally made their way into the hall, panting and sweating profusely, it was just as Ganesan decided to adjourn the proceedings for an hour until 11.20am.
“They knew that since the sitting was in recess, they could carry out their own sitting without any disturbances from the House,” said Zambry.
During the one-hour break, PR assemblymen assumed their positions in the House and began their very own proceedings, beginning with a prayer and continuing on with the tabling of three motions.
“They just want to dramatise everything, to create a big show, because otherwise their efforts would have all been wasted,” said Zambry.
He added however that by virtue of the fact that the PR assemblymen had signed their attendance into the sitting and had also been present when Ganesan resumed after the hour-long break, it clearly meant that they were endorsing him as the rightful Speaker.
“And then there are all these complaints that Sivakumar was attacked by the police and even choked – they are just doing that to dramatise things,” said Zambry.
He reiterated that he was happy that, despite the chaotic proceedings, the BN assemblymen had not once taken the bait and launched into an attack of their own.
“For me, you know me. I just smile at them. I was smiling. Even Nizar came up to me and asked for one of my Hacks sweets and I gave it to him. I still smiled at him,” said Zambry.
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