Back to square one.

The Court of Appeal grants Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir his application for a stay of execution on the KL High Court ruling yesterday that declared Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin the righful mentri besar of Perak. Essentially, it might mean Dr Zambry is mentri besar until his appeal is heard.

This latest development has put the on-going tussle for the state government back to square one.

The Court of Appeal has granted a stay of execution on yesterday's High Court decision which recognised Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful Perak menteri besar.

This will put on hold the decision of the High Court pending an appeal by Perak BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir.

This means that rival MB, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, cannot seek the sultan's consent to dissolve the state assembly until the appeal has been heard.

Today's decision put an end to Nizar's bid to return as the lawful MB. He has been in office for less than 24 hours since the High Court decision.

Zambry filed his appeal this morning and the issue will be heard on a date to be set by the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal decision has once again plunged Perak in limbo with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat fighting one another to claim power.

Court of Appeal judge Ramly Mohd Ali had today heard the stay application on his own, departing from the usual practice of a three-member panel.

Such a departure is acceptable and has been done previously for various grounds.

Zambry's lawyers argued that the stay is important to stop Nizar from trying to seek the approval of the Perak sultan to dissolve the state assembly.

His lead counsel, Cecil Abraham, added that if the dissolution were granted, Zambry's appeal would be academic.

Meanwhile, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, who was also in court today, supported the motion.

He argued that the suspension of state secretary and state legal adviser by Nizar late last night was illegal as these are federal appointments.

Decision made at 1pm

Nizar's lawyer, Sulaiman Abdullah, urged the court to fix an early date for the appeal hearing.

Counsel Cecil and Sunil Abraham represented Zambry, while Nizar was represented by Sulaiman, Ranjit Singh and Edmund Bon.

In addition to Gani, AG’s Chambers prosecution division chief Abdul Majid Hamzah was in court.

BN and Umno lawyers, Hafarizam Harun and Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, held a watching brief.

Also in court were two PKR assemblypersons turned BN-friendly Independents - Mohd Osman Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang). Their defections had made it possible for BN to take over the Perak government.

After the decision, which was delivered at about 1pm, Hafarizam urged Nizar to vacate his office to allow Zambry to move in.

Sulaiman meanwhile said he had to take instructions from Nizar on what to do next.