Women NGOs urge Sultan to delay MB swearing-in, consider BN minority government

Nine women NGOs have made an urgent plea for the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah to postpone the swearing-in ceremony scheduled tomorrow and to consider instead the option of a minority BN government.

In a hastily called press conference leading to it being held at the coffee house of a hotel here, the group representatives said they were worried and had no confidence that the coalition government of DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and PAS would be able to achieve a stable state government.

The group, naming themselves the Perak Malay Women NGO Meeting, cited the much-publicised bickering of the three parties as a pointer to this assumption which they reached in a meeting on Saturday. The nine organisations are the districts Perak Women and Family Development Council, the (WI) Women Grouping, Gerakwanis Belia 4B, Perak Malaysian Muslim Women Welfare Body, Perak Women Cooperative, members of the Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan (PPK), Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JKKK), the Henry Gurney Alumni and the women members of the Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS).

Menteri Besar-designate Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin declined comment. Private secretary to the Sultan of Perak, Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohamad Nor had earlier during the day announced that Perak Regent Raja Dr Nazrin Shah had consented to the swearing-in of Mohammad Nizar as the Menteri Besar at the Istana Iskandariah tomorrow.

The group’s chairman Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim, who is also Wanita Umno Exco member, said the respective organisations undertake to submit their individual memorandum on the matter to the Sultan Azlan Shah as soon as possible.
They also agreed to submit written legal submissions from both lawyers and constitutional experts to Sultan Azlan Shah on the matter of the minority state government proposal.

"The coalition government of DAP, PKR and PAS is a mere marriage of convenience simply set up to form the state government. The important fact here is there for that BN had won 28 seats and needing only another three seats to form the majority while the other three had contested individually," she said.

Kamilia said this could well lead to problems later as the respective partners may not be suitable. "Although the law states that with the majority, they could form the government but there are provisions in the State Constitution for the Ruler has the discretion to decide that a minority government led by BN is instead formed," she said.