PUTRAJAYA: The conundrum of who is the rightful Mentri Besar of Perak will be resolved when the five-man Federal Court bench pronounces its ruling Tuesday.
The bench, led by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, will decide whether Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, 47, of Barisan Nasional retains the post or his predecessor Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, 52, of Pakatan Rakyat, reclaims the office.
The judgment will also determine the constitutional issue of whether a head of state can look beyond the legislature to decide if the head of government has lost the confidence of the majority of the elected representatives.
Besides Alauddin, the other members of the bench are Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria and Federal Court judges Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, Datuk Wira Ghazali Mohd Yusoff and Datuk Abdull Hamid Embong.
This is the final step in the appeal by Mohammad Nizar in his attempt to reclaim the Mentri Besar post.
Nevertheless, the losing party in a court case can apply to the Federal Court to review its own ruling under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court to challenge the constitutional points.
The five-man bench deferred its judgment on Nov 5 last year after having heard submissions in the appeal from counsel representing both Mohammad Nizar and Dr Zambry.
The conflict over who is the rightful Mentri Besar arose last year after three Pakatan assemblymen quit their parties to become independent state assemblymen, leaving Pakatan and Barisan with 28 assemblymen each in the 59-seat Perak legislative assembly.
~ Bernama
