Perak Sultan rejects Pakatan’s call for dissoultion of state assembly, all eyes now on Nizar’s next move

The Perak Ruler, Sultan Azlan Shah, has rejected the advice of Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to dissolve the state assembly and has asked him to step down to make way for a new state government.

“If Mohammad Nizar does not resign his post as Perak Menteri Besar together with the members of the state executive council, the posts of Menteri Besar and state executive councillors are considered vacant,” Bernama reported on its website.

The decision by Sultan Azlan is not totally unexpected. The BN-controlled media has been predicting the fall of the Pakatan government for weeks.

Pakatan leaders too have been sombre in private, given the far-reaching arm of the Umno-Barisan Nasional’s influence.

Nevertheless, it will still spark tsunami-scale reverberations across the nation, and further erode public confidence in the country’s institutions.

Distrust and disgust, both nationally and internationally, will also increase with the latest disillusionment

It now remains to be seen how the Pakatan will react. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is due to hold a press conference this afternoon.

According to the Malaysian Insider, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has also been summoned to meet the Ruler at 6 pm.