would be held for the seats held by Jamaluddin and Osman. The deputy speaker of the state assembly from the DAP Hee Yit Foong declared herself independent on 3 February 2009 with the same terms as Jamaluddin and Osman - supporting Barisan Nasional in matters of confidence. Nizar had an audience with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah and requested a dissolution of the state assembly to pave way for a snap election on 4 February 2009. Najib in his capacity as Perak UMNO chief had an audience with Sultan Azlan Shah together with Hee, Jamaluddin and Osman. The latest Pakatan Rakyat lawmaker Nasaruddin announced his return to UMNO citing that "[He] want[s] stability in Perak." Najib, then sought royal consent for Barisan Nasional to form the new government. An almost similar scenario occurred in the state of Sabah following the 1994 state election whereby Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) won 25 seats against 23 won by Barisan Nasional. Defections by representatives of PBS into Barisan Nasional gave the latter the requisite majority to form government in Sabah. New state government The Sultan Azlan Shah announced his decision to refuse Nizar's request for a dissolution of the state assembly and asked Nizar and his cabinet to resign, citing his discretion under Article XVIII (2)(b) of the Perak State Constitution after being satisfied that Nizar no longer commanded the support of the majority in the house of assembly. DAP advisor, Lim Kit Siang, charged that the sultan was obliged to act on the advice of the Menteri Besar and call fresh elections, citing Article 16(6) of the Perak State Constitution. Nizar refused to resign and asked the sultan to reconsider and dissolve the assembly, citing reasons of democracy, with backing from leaders of Pakatan Rakyat. The police cordoned off the state secretariat building and demanded Nizar's cabinet to vacate the building. Later in the evening, the sultan asked Zambry Abdul Kadir to form the next government, removed Nizar from the office of Menteri Besar and swore in Zambry as the new First Minister on 6 February 2009. On the morning of 6 February 2009, Nizar and his exco members returned to the Menteri Besar's office to find that their offices had been cleared. Nizar held a press conference in the office premises along with his exco, but they were promptly ordered to leave by the state secretary on grounds that they