TV PAKATAN RAKYAT

If the Barisan Nasional and the Perak royal household had any lingering doubts about negative public sentiment towards the change of the state government, here is a message: doubt no more. A survey of registered voters in Perak on Feb 8 showed that:

• 74 per cent of the respondents feel that the state assembly should have been dissolved after the defection of the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers

• 76 per cent of the respondents felt that the "people, through elections, should decide on who forms the government"

• 62 per cent of the respondents felt that the "role of the palace in this decision" means it does not recognise the will of the people

• 66 per cent of the respondents do not accept state governments formed through the defection of state assemblymen

• 59 per cent of the respondents feel that the political crisis in Perak would decrease support for Barisan Nasional.

Taken together, the poll by the Merdeka Centre suggests that Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and the BN may occupy the seat of government but a significant number of Perakians may not accept their legitimacy to hold power. The political crisis unfolded in Perak when three Pakatan Rakyat legislators became independents and said that they would back the BN. This wiped away the three-seat majority which enabled Pakatan Rakyat to rule the state since March last year.