The on-going tussle for the Perak government took another dramatic turn today when Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was forced to vacate his post seven hours after he clocked in as the legitimate Perak menteri besar.

About 90 minutes after the Court of Appeal granted a stay of execution on yesterday's Kuala Lumpur High Court decision which recognised Nizar as the legitimate MB, he announced that he would respect the decision.

The day had started early for the Pakatan Rakyat government.

Nizar, accompanied by his wife Fatimah Taad and eight state cabinet members, arrived at the state secretariat in Ipoh at 7.30am to report for work.

mohammad nizar jamaluddin returns to work as menteri besar after court decision They were greeted by a large contingent of riot police. Five Federal Reserve Unit trucks, one water cannon and at least about 50 uniformed policemen were seen milling around the compound.

The police had taken up positions at the building since yesterday evening, soon after the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Nizar was the rightful MB.

When Nizar’s entourage arrived, they were not allowed immediate entry. A police officer said that only Nizar and his exco members would be admitted into the building.

nizar return to suk 110509 09 Although vehicles driven by civil servant were allowed easy entry, the gate was opened enough to allow Nizar and his exco members to slip into the compound.

Pakatan assembly speaker V Sivakumar, who was unceremoniously sacked by the Barisan Nasional (BN) last Thursday, was also in Nizar's entourage.

Just before entering the premises, Nizar and the exco members said prayers by the roadside.

The police had blocked one side of the main road leading to the building, reducing traffic to a crawl. As a number of schools are located nearby, many students were affected by the heavy security.

nizar return to suk 110509 06 Fifteen minutes after he clocked in, Nizar left for Kuala Kangsar to attend an investiture ceremony at the palace by Perak regent Raja Nazrin Shah.

This was Nizar's first and last official function as menteri besar following the court decision yesterday.

Nizar, who had late yesterday asked for an audience with the regent, who has yet accede to the request. The Perak sultan is said to be abroad.

The audience is to seek royal consent to dissolve the state assembly, to pave the way for fresh elections in the state.

Excos quick to swing into action...

Meanwhile, Pakatan excos swung into action in the first few hours after resuming control of the state government.

pakatan exco adun pc in perak state assembly building 120509 02 Senior exco Ngeh Koo Ham announced that councillors would be sworn in by tomorrow so that the 14 local councils can function properly.

"Also 817 village chiefs have been issued letters to carry out their duties. The Land Office has also been instructed to issue freehold (land) titles," he told a press conference at 11.15am at the state secretariat building.

Ngeh said the Ipoh central bus project would proceed as planned while parking fees would be reduced to 30 sen with immediate effect.

The DAP state chief also announced that the 2009 Sukan Perak had been cancelled, while allocations would be channeled towards sports at the district levels.

"We'll redeem the three months wasted during the Perak crisis," he said.

But a few hours later, on hearing the Court of Appeal’s decision, Ngeh and his Pakatan colleagues had to leave the building and surrender control to BN.

VIDEO | 1 min