LIKE the 7 May 2009 sitting, proceedings in the Perak legislative assembly today, 28 Oct 2009, were again a showcase of unparliamentary behaviour and the state of political affairs at their worst. The Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s challenging of the forced seizure of its state government in February 2009 through defections and desertions is still morally [...]

EARLIER this week, while I was in the office alone in the morning, two uniformed police officers appeared outside our glass office door. One peered in. I looked up and smiled but my fingers were ready to sign in to Twitter if the police rang the doorbell. The officer who was peering in smiled back, [...]

IPOH, 28 July 2009: Four Barisan Nasional (BN) state assemblypersons today lodged police reports against embattled Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar for using the official letterhead of the Perak speaker. Perak BN Backbenchers Club chairperson Datuk Nadzri Ismail said what Sivakumar did was a serious criminal offence. “They have ignored the civilised process and [...]

         Sivakumar (left) and Ganesan IPOH, 17 June 2009: The High Court here has fixed 17 July to hear the suit by former Perak State Legislative Assembly Speaker V Sivakumar against the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Speaker Datuk R Ganesan. Sivakumar’s lead counsel Chan Kok Keong told reporters at the courthouse today that the case was [...]

JUSTICE is becoming a rare commodity in our courts when judges of questionable ability sit in judgment. This situation raises serious concerns regarding the appointment of judges and their elevation to the bench. In the recent cases involving the Perak crisis we wonder whether the Federal Court judges and the Court of Appeal judges who [...]

SivakumarI AM asked to advise V Sivakumar, the speaker of the legislative assembly of the state of Perak, on the constitutionality of his purported removal on 7 May 2009.  It is common ground that the legislative assembly was summoned that day by His Royal Highness, the sultan of Perak (HRH) pursuant to Article 36(1) of [...]