Nizar report to work but forced to pray outside

A prayer before beginning entering the state secretariat this morning in Ipoh, MB Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin starting his day with his followers. - Reuters pic

By Shannon Teoh

IPOH — At 7.34am today, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin arrived at the State Secretariat building here to report for work, almost four months after he was forced to vacate his mentri besar office here.

In sharp contrast to the war zone scenario outside the same building last Thursday, everything was calm and orderly this morning despite heavy police presence.

The entrance to the building is now blocked by FRU barriers and one side of the road in front is closed to traffic.

By the time Nizar arrived, most of his exco were already there. He walked to the entrance, led some prayers outside and then went inside.

Pakatan Rakyat Speaker V. Sivakumar was also there.

About 10 minutes later, Nizar left the building after clocking in as mentri besar, a ruling made by the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday.

His next appointment is with the Perak Regent, Raja Nazrin Shah. (tmi)

In another glaring example of what’s wrong with Malaysia under Prime Minister Najib Razak, Perak police continued to act as guardians of the political interests of his Umno-BN, rather than as safe-keepers of the rakyat or maintainers of the law.

On Tuesday morning, Pakatan Rakyat leaders including Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin were initially denied entry into the state secretariat complex, although the High Court had a day ago declared Nizar the rightful chief minister.

While cars of other civil service employees were freely allowed into the Perak Darul Ridwan building, Nizar and his exco team were made to enter on foot!

As Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim rightly stressed on Monday, the separation of powers between the executive, the judiciary and legislative must be clearly defined and all parties especially the federal apparatus, such as the police, the civil service and the courts, must behave professionally at all times.

Nevertheless, in a show of goodwill, the ever-resilient Nizar did not protest the shabby treatment meted out to him and his executive councillors. But before entering - to offer thanks and to seek blessings for a safe outcome - he and team held prayers by the roadside. (SK)