COMMENT | Perak has a history of being vulnerable to outside excursions. From the 16th century, its rich tin deposits incurred invasions from Acehnese and the Dutch. This created deep animosity between the sultans and the tradespeople, but the invaders were always willing to compromise because the profits were irresistible.

In 2009, the Perak state government power-tussle unleashed one of the most memorable constitutional crises in recent memory. Back then, party-hopping was unusual and unexpected. The Sultan of Perak refused the then-menteri besar’s request for a dissolution of the State Assembly, and when the state assemblypersons were barred from entering the state building, they held the session under a tree – the Democracy tree. The upshot of affirming that the sultan could determine the loss of confidence using “extraneous sources” have ripple effects today.

Earlier this year, the Perak state government was also single-handedly changed by the now-ousted menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu – extending the effects of the federal coup led by the current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in February.

The latest coup has its complexities. The undisputed fact is that Umno wants a change in the menteri besar, as they were not satisfied with Faizal’s performance. The culminating event being his appointment of a political secretary without prior consultation with Umno. Thus, they moved an emergency motion to declare that Faizal has lost the confidence of the assembly.

Since then, there have been numerous accounts and suggestions on what this event has symbolised and where it could go...