Ousted Pakatan Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin is making "a personal and humble appeal" to the Sultan of Perak to call off the Oct 28 state budget assembly sitting as he fears that there will be trouble if the scheduled sitting takes place.

"I heard from some unconfirmed but reliable sources that Umno is recruiting 15 ‘thugs’ to replace the Sergeant at Arms at the state assembly to ward off any trouble from our side.

"What is troubling me is that these 15 thugs have been instructed to target and assault five non-Muslim Pakatan assemblymen," Nizar alleged.

According to him, the source had told him that the Pakatan targets are assemblypersons Chang Lih Kang (Teja), Chan Ming Kai (Simpang Pulai), S Kesavan (Hutang Melintang), A Sivasubramaniam (Buntong) and Thomas Su (Pasir Pinji).

nizar pc 110509 03 Nizar ( left ) also told Malaysiakini that he heard from sources in the State Secretariat that the 28 Pakatan assemblypersons will be barred from bringing in their mobile phones and cameras for recording any untoward incidents that may take place inside the assembly to be held next Wednesday.

This claim was also made by DAP state secretary Nga Kor Ming in his press conference yesterday.

"We have also heard that we have to undergo strict security checks including metal detectors," said Nizar.

"We are not criminals to have to undergo such humiliating treatment by the BN regime, which has insulted the voters who have elected us as their assemblymen," he fumed.

‘Provocation by BN side’

Nizar said that the Pakatan representatives would not be creating disturbances at the assembly.

"The trouble will not come from us as we are performing our duties in accordance to both the Standing Orders of the Perak Legislative Assembly and Perak Constitution," he said.

sivakumar being dragged abused manhandled by security unknown individual out perak state assembly chaos 070509 02 However, he did not discount the possibility of provocation by the BN side who he says might trigger a worse situation than the infamous May 7 sitting when chaos reigned in the House after Pakatan speaker V Sivakumar was forcefully removed from his seat by the police.

"So I humbly request the sultan to postpone the assembly sitting to avoid further trouble from BN," he said.

Meanwhile, DAP state chief Ngeh Koo Ham appealed to the police to be neutral and not take sides.

"The police, as public servants of the people, should play a more neutral role in enforcing the law in a justified and fair manner," he pointed out.

"The country must not become a police state," he lamented.

Ngeh said that in the three assembly sittings on March 3, May 7 and Sept 2, the police had allegedly used high-handed methods to curb their lawful sittings.

'Not us, it’s them'

When contacted, BN-appointed speaker R Ganesan was surprised at the allegations of trouble by Nizar in the upcoming assembly sitting.

ganesan perak state assembly speaker 070509 01 "It is not us who started the trouble in the past assembly sittings but the fault lies with Pakatan. First they said they will boycott the Oct 28 assembly sitting, then suddenly they decide to come and now they are talking of trouble in the sitting. What is going on here?

"Nizar has been saying a lot of things that are not true. It is all a 'sandiwara' by Pakatan to get cheap publicity,” added an irritated Ganesan.

"The assembly sitting will go on as scheduled on Oct 28. It has got the consent of the Perak sultan and has been gazetted. It will not be postponed at Nizar's whims and fancies," he said.

“I, as the speaker, will carry out my lawful duties as stated in the Standing Orders of the Perak Legislative Assembly to ensure that the three-day sitting goes on smoothly without any trouble," he said.

He rubbished the claims of the 15 security men who are supposed to be employed by BN to target the five Pakatan assemblypersons, and described it as “wild and baseless”.

'Don't be fooled by Pakatan'

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Perak BN Backbenchers Club chairperson Nadzri Ismail had appeal to Pakatan to avert chaos in the assembly.

"It is hoped that the people of Perak will not allow themselves to be fooled by the play-acting ... the assembly sitting can proceed smoothly without any disturbance from those who are irresponsible," he said.

BN’s Kubu Gajah representative Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar said he hoped that the May 7 disorder would not be repeated at the coming sitting as it was important to pass the budget for development in the interests of the people.

"I appeal to all the opposition assemblymen to extend their cooperation and not repeat the disorder of last May as approving the budget is important. If they want to debate, they should do so prudently," he said.

The Perak state assembly has 59 representatives. Three representatives of the 31-member Pakatan government switched their allegiance to the BN early this year, leading to a change of government.