Cheating again! Checks show highly flawed stay order

By Wong Choon Mei

True enough when Appeals Court Judge Ramly Mohd Ali’s super-quick order for a stay of execution came under the microscope, huge glaring flaws jumped out.

Much the same like the controversial rulings of Ipoh Court Judicial Commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim, who had refused to hear any of the Perak crisis suits placed before him in open court.

Huddled together with Umno lawyers, Ridwan had at one stage actually ruled that Perak Speaker V Sivakumar could not be represented by his own lawyers, but must accept the services of state legal adviser Ahmad Kamal Shahid. Even though the latter was already acting on behalf of Sivakumar’s political rival Zambry Kadir!

Said Leong Cheok Keng, lawyer for Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin: “The High Court ruling was not an order to act which can be stopped by staying it. It is not like paying damages where you can halt the payment until a decision has been made.”

Nizar still the rightful MB

On Monday, High Court judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim had ruled that Nizar was the rightful Menteri Besar of Perak, thereby invalidating the appointment of Umno’s Zambry Kadir as his successor.

Zambry took over on Feb 6 after Prime Minister Najib Razak launched a coup d’etat to topple Nizar’s Pakatan Rakyat administration.

“The Monday ruling was a declaration that Nizar has been the legitimate MB all this while. How can you temporarily vacate him from office?” said Leong.

Even on Monday, when Zambry asked Justice Abdul Aziz for a stay of execution, he received the same curt reply from the High Court judge.

Perak executive councillor Thomas Su, also a lawyer, said despite the stay order Zambry could not be MB as it did not overturn the High Court’s ruling. This means that Nizar is still the Menteri Besar.

Najib’s predilection for the underhanded and the foul condemned

To Malaysians disenchanted by Najib’s predilection for the underhanded and the foul to resolve the Perak crisis, it is disappointing that less than a week after the widely-condemned May 7 sitting, he and his Umno party have once again chosen might - and not right - to force Nizar to vacate his office.

“Since I was sworn in on March 12, 2008, I have been the Menteri Besar until now,” Nizar said. “It is impossible not to have a Menteri Besar at any point of time. There cannot be a gap.”

Civil society leaders and legal practitioners have condemned the latest twist, saying that it reflected badly on Najib’s leadership and would further blacken the country’s already tarnished international image.

Said Ragunath Kesavan, president of the Bar Council: “As we have already said this is not a case for the courts to decide. It is for the people to decide through fresh election. As an immediate response, Nizar can apply to set aside the stay order.”

Said Param Cumaraswamy, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers: “It will be a matter of concern to an average citizen over how the Court of Appeal presided by one judge could overturn a decision of the High Court judge yesterday when he refused to grant a stay of execution without there being before the Court a formal application to that effect.

“The contention by Zambry’s counsel, and supported by the Attorney General, that if the Sultan of Perak had dissolved the Legislative Assembly then Zambry’s appeal would be academic is hard to accept.” (SK)