The Malaysian Federal Court Tuesday ruled on the constitutional position of a state chief minister in the event of loss of majority in the legislature and change of government. The apex court said that if a chief minister refused to resign, his office is deemed to have been vacated.

Ending several months of legal and political battle, the court ruled that Zambry Abdul Kader was the rightful mentri besar (chief minister) of Perak state.

The court dismissed the appeal by former chief minister of the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to reclaim the chief minister's post.

The conflict over who was the rightful mentri besar arose last year after three Pakatan legislators quit their parties to become independent state assembly members. This left the Pakatan and the rival alliance Barisan Nasional that rules at the federal level with 28 members each in the 59-seat Perak legislative assembly.

In the prolonged turmoil that ensued, Jamaluddin refused to resign and the assembly speaker, who belonged to Pakatan, suspended Zambry and the entire cabinet from attending the house for several days.

The bench ruled that the Court of Appeal was right in reversing the High Court ruling restoring Jamaluddin.

It ruled that the vote of no confidence could be determined by other means than from the Perak assembly, Star Online website of the Star said.

The judgment also determined the constitutional issue of whether a head of state can look beyond the legislature to decide if the head of government has lost the confidence of the majority of the elected representatives.

The decision was read out by Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria, who sat with Court of Appeal President Alauddin Mohammed Sheriff and Federal Court judges Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, Wira Ghazali Mohammed Yusoff and Abdull Hamid Embong.

A federal parliamentary polity, Malaysia has 13 states with their own legislatures. Five of them were wrested by Pakatan that for the first time in March 2008 also registered a strong presence in parliament winning 88 seats.