Democracy tree

4.6785°N 101.2162°E / 4.6785; 101.2162 The Democracy Tree (Bahasa Malaysia: Pokok Demokrasi) is a rain tree in Malaysia, named for its role in the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis. It is noted as the venue where 27 Perak state lawmakers from Pakatan Rakyat comprising Democratic Action Party, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia and Parti Keadilan Rakyat, held an 'emergency assembly' on 3 March 2009. The tree was located about 100m from the Perak Darul Ridzuan building which houses the state assembly. The assembly was held under the tree by the state assemblymen after being blocked by the police from entering the premises.[1][2] Dr. Zambry, from UMNO, and recently suspended assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri had claimed that the sitting was invalid because it did not have the consent of Sultan Azlan Shah.[3]

Assembly

The 27 assemblymen who turned up – all from the Pakatan Rakyat – stood around V. Sivakumar, the speaker, who had donned his speaker's robe. The sitting convened at 10.20am.

Motions

Three motions were passed within 15 during the 'emergency assembly'. The motions are:

Plaque

On 8 March 2009, a plaque was subsequently placed by the assemblymen to commemorate the assembly sitting. Many local residents came to take photographs with the plaque and tree.[4] However a few days later, the plaque was found vandalized repeatedly[5] before finally removed by the Ipoh City Council (MBI).[6][7]

On 22 March 2009, five pieces of the broken plaque destroyed by vandals were auctioned away by the Pakatan Rakyat to supporters. A total of RM42,900, excluding donations, was raised in the auction.[8]

Aftermath

A DVD featuring the tree was released during ceramahs but it was subsequently banned. Tebing Tinggi assemblyman Ong Boon Piow was arrested for allegedly violating the Film Censorship Act 2002 for “manufacturing, circulating, distributing, and displaying the content of the DVD without first getting a ‘B’ certificate from the Film Censorship Board.[9]

References
  1. http://www.mysarawak.org/2009/03/04/%E2%80%98pokok-assembly%E2%80%99-calls-for-polls.html
  2. "POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Democracy Under a Tree". www.globalissues.org. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  3. "Perak state assembly approves motions - The Nut Graph". 3 March 2009.
  4. "Pakatan s Tree of Democracy in Perak". Archived from the original on 2009-03-10.
  5. "Vandals hit Perak s Democracy Tree - again (Update)". Archived from the original on 2009-03-16.
  6. "Democracy Tree vandalism caught on camera - anilnetto.com". 14 March 2009.
  7. "Democracy Tree plaque removed - anilnetto.com". 15 March 2009.
  8. "Democracy Tree plaque auction raises over RM42,000". Archived from the original on 2009-03-25.
  9. "DAP lawmaker held over democracy tree DVD". Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
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