Kuala Lampur, April 28 -- The case of Nizar v Zambry decided by the Federal Court in 2010 is the lex classicus, as legal experts would term it, on the issue of confidence of the majority of members of a legislative assembly.

In that case, the Federal Court held that the loss of confidence in the Menteri Besar (MB) may not only be established through a vote in the state legislative assembly (SLA) but may also be gathered from other extraneous sources provided they are properly established. Such sources include representations made by members of the Perak SLA that the MB no longer enjoys the support of the majority of the members of the SLA.

In that case, there was a demonstration of support by 31 members of the SLA for Barisan Nasional (...