KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S Parliament suspended five opposition lawmakers who caused a commotion on Monday by wearing black headbands to protest the ruling coalition's takeover of a northern state.

The struggle for control of Perak state has heightened hostility between the opposition and Prime Minister Najib Razak's National Front ruling coalition, which took over Perak in February by convincing several state opposition legislators to switch sides.

Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, the opposition's ousted chief minister of Perak, sparked an uproar in Parliament's lower house on Monday when he led several opposition lawmakers in putting on headbands imprinted with slogans calling for fresh state elections in Perak.

Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia ordered Mr Nizar and four other opposition members to leave the hall after nearly 30 minutes of chaotic scenes, during which opposition lawmakers shouted 'Long live the people' and 'Dissolve the (Perak) state legislature.'

Opposition lawmaker Jeff Ooi said the speaker then slapped a two-day suspension on the five men.

Ruling coalition officials denounced the protest as a waste of time for Parliament, which resumed proceedings on Monday after a nearly three-month break.

'Childish, unproductive and a mockery of Parliament,' Khairy Jamaluddin, the youth chief of the United Malays National Organisation governing party, wrote on his Twitter feed.

Mr Najib's National Front took over Perak after three state legislators left a three-party opposition alliance, causing the opposition to lose a majority in the state legislature that it won in general elections last year.

The takeover was initially considered a boost for Mr Najib, who is trying to revive the National Front's deflated popularity. But the opposition has demanded fresh state elections, claiming the National Front orchestrated the defections through underhanded means.

The opposition weakened the National Front's majority in Parliament and won five of Malaysia's 13 states, including Perak, in last year's elections amid public complaints over how the government was tackling problems such as corruption, racial tensions and economic worries. -- AP