‘Your Highness, have you consulted the people of Perak? Have you heard the cries of the people of Perak?’

On A constitutional crisis caused by the sultan

CYM Malaysia: Your Royal Highness, this paramount decision of yours has penalised your very own truehearted citizens. Your verdict has wounded your very own citizens deeply, a wound in our hearts and minds.

Your beloved Perakians and Malaysia as a whole, through your decision, are subjected to unfairness and injustice. This is so true as it does not reflect the true intention of the voters. Further, it also does not reflect the true principle of democracy.

In your very own words, you once said on your relationship with the state: ‘As a ruler, I cannot participate in planning or formulating a programme, I am not a political leader. I am not an administrative officer; I am only a consultant...’

Your Highness, have you consulted the people of Perak? Have you heard the cries of the people of Perak?

We humbly advocate that Your Highness’ decision should not pander to the whims of any ruling cabal but one that will thrive in accordance with the dictates of the rule of law and engender respect for the rights of the people.

We, the Concerned Youth Movement humbly appeal to Your Highness to reconsider your decision and may your decision be a decision representing the people as a whole.

Chew Kah Wai: What's the point of casting our votes now? This whole scenario is really heartbreaking. I have lost confidence in the Sultan totally.

Lim Keat Hoe: The higher the expectations the greater the frustration. He is no ordinary sultan, for he once held the highest judicial office in our land.

He is on record as saying that the sultan ought to accede to the wishes of the MB. Yet, he has openly sided with the Umnoputras.

Now, not only are the police used to beat up and arrest peaceful demonstrators , they are used to seize power in Perak.

Well, we may have only hope left but we still have our vote in four years time.

Thanapa T: I have to remind those who are currently lost in their emotional waves to understand that His Royal Highness DYMM Sultan of Perak has exercised his powers.

You might not like it, or think that it is not popular, but venting your anger and frustration on a comment page is not going to change anything.

The (former) Pakatan Rakyat state government of Perak should have seen this coming and acted to change the state laws so that it more transparent and fair to the citizens of Perak.

All these technicalities and legal mumbo-jumbo sure have fixed up the voters this time around.

There's always a next time though. BN is a goner, no doubt about that. But PR must surely now vet their candidates more throughly the next time around.

PR needs smarter, more loyal people in their team and not those daft enough to be charged with bribery, etc.

Rossim: The decision has been made. Let us now look at what we should do next. One way to send a message to both the sultan and the new MB is to have one assembly person from Pakatan to resign every month and force a by- election.

This is one way to show these people what the people of Perak want.

Jacob: The sultan should not listen to the four ‘frogs’ who betrayed the rakyat . Three of the four ‘frogs’ were elected by the people under the umbrella of Pakatan Rakyat.

The people made their decision very clearly in that they want PR to form the state government. The sultan should listen to the rakyat and not the ugly, despicable politicians.

Ali Baba: Imagine the consequences of having a snap election in Perak and Umno is wiped out from Perak politics. The next to fall will be the BN federal government.

Some very, very important persons are so nervous about the possible collapse of Umno as they think this would result in the downfall of the the Malays without realising that majority of the Malay nowadays have abandoned Umno for Pakatan.

This was shown in March 2008 and through the recent Permatang Pauh and KT by-elections.

Therefore, by hook or by crook, BN will use all their powers to deny the rakyat their very basic right ie, choosing their own leaders through the democratic process.

The Tat Hon: The incident in Perak reminds me of an incident in Thailand where their king played a major role in the change of the government. A party with popular support of the people was ‘overthrown’ by a less popular party.

I think that Pakatan had not handled their relationship with the sultan well ie, the transfer of the state Islamic affairs department director’s episode.

Should Pakatan have had a more cordial relationship with sultan, His Highness may have dissolved the state assembly or waited for a vote of no-confidence at the assembly.

Therefore, it's lesson for Pakatan and political observers. Whoever said that Malaysia’s royals are just a rubber stamp?

Peter Yew: As I write this, the new Perak menteri besar has just been installed. I am saddened that the sultan whom I respected very highly has now disappointed me with his judgement.

The monarchy is supposed to provide refuge and balance to the rakyat from political injustice and abuse.

I will never understand why the sultan did not take the obvious route of dissolving the state assembly but handed over the state on a silver platter to the Barisan which has no clear mandate.

As a Perakian, today is a dark day for me. I honestly believe HRH Sultan was wrongly advised or pressured to give in to BN’s demands.

Sad Malaysian: The case for the dissolution of the Perak state assembly and the calling of fresh elections is compelling. Here we have a party which snatched the state government away from a legitimately elected one by virtue of a slim majority of three defectors.

Two of the defectors are facing corruption charges and will lose their seats if convicted. The speaker had accepted pre-signed resignation letters of the three defectors and ruled that their seats are vacant.

Whether his decision stands or not is a subject of future court proceedings.

The new state government will be unstable. To top it off, its racial composition is almost entirely Malay which is unsuitable for a racially-mixed state like Perak.

The sultan cannot be unaware that the prevailing sentiment among his subjects is that the mandate be returned to the people to select the government they see fit.

Indeed, to allow BN to form the government on the basis of defections by questionable politicians is to sweep aside all moral considerations.

In light of these circumstances, the sultan has not made the wisest decision, Although HRH has the constitutional right not to dissolve the state assembly, his decision does not pass the test of fairness, morality and reasonableness.

Chelvarzi: In times of crisis, decisions are always not final. It is still not too late for the sultan to withdraw his decision on this critical issue and leave the verdict to rakyat .

He is the ruler and custodian of rakyat. He has to make the right decision on any issue. There should not be any chance for error. He should act like King Solomon.

He should set an example to politicians and not become one. So far the elected BN politicians have only insulted the intelligence of rakyat .

JTB: Many Malaysians are angry with the sultan for swearing-in the new Barisan Nasional menteri besar yesterday. Many Perakians saw it as their sultan abandoning them.

What the people felt was that the sultan has spurned the wishes of the people of not only of Perak but also of Malaysia.

The sultan will swear in a new assembly of which four members are of dubious character with two of them are facing corruption charges. Sure, they are not guilty until proven in a court of law, but the facts remains that these two have a corruption charge against them.

Prema Subramaniam: It is shocking to note that the sultan, who was a former Lord President, acting in such a biased manner.

Has the Sultan too been threatened or coerced by Umno? Why is the Sultan robbing his subjects right to elect their representatives.

How can we Perakians accept an illegal Government? The sultan should take the interests of his subjects to heart and not those of dirty politicians.

Raj: It is with deepest regret I wish say that the Sultan of Perak has erred in his decision and role as the guardian and ruler of his subjects.

He has allowed three unethical politicians to gamble away the choice of voters in Perak thus undermining the very democracy he has been advocating.

The evidence of ruthlessness, undemocratic practice and abuse were there all for us to witness yesterday when MB Nizar and his supporters were chased out by the State Secretary.

This is the outcome of the murder of democracy. Who is going to be responsible for all this?