Perak assembly emergency sitting is legal retorts Speaker

Perak State Assembly Secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri said the move by state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar to call for an emergency sitting of the assembly this Tuesday is not legal.
This is because he has not received the consent of Sultan of Perak in accordance with the Standing Orders of the assembly and the state constitution, he said in a statement released to Bernama in Kuala Lumpur.
However, in Ipoh, Sivakumar, told a 7pm press conference that his call for an emergency assembly sitting on Tuesday was legal and the secretary had no power to interpret the Standing Order.
The Secretary's only duty was to follow the Speaker’s instructions, he said.
Sivakumar cited standing Order 89 which stated that all interpretations by the Speaker was final, The Star's Christina Koh reported.
Earlier, Bernama also reported that Sivakumar’s lawyer, Chan Kok Keong insisted that the Speaker’s call for an emergency sitting on March 3 to table two motions on the takeover of the state government was lawful.
He said it was done in accordance to the state constitution and standing orders of the State Legislative Assembly.
Chan said the view was also shared by constitutional lawyer Tommy Thomas whose opinion was that the Speaker was lawfully empowered to convene the Legislative Assembly on March 3, since the last meeting of the assembly in November, last year, was adjourned sine die and was not prorogued.
"If it was prorogued, only the Sultan of Perak can summon the Assembly," he told reporters at a press conference in his office in Ipoh on Sunday.