Umno man revives spectre of 1987 split with RoS suit

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — An ex-Umno member — sacked last year for breaching party rules — has filed a suit against the Registrar of Societies (RoS) yesterday in a bid to reclaim his lost position.

The case recalls the 1987 fractious court-induced split which made the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) lynch-pin illegal.

Kelantan businessman Amran Abdul Rahman, who was an Umno member for 14 years, is challenging the RoS to show proof branches set up in the Tanah Merah division have been lawfully registered, failing which it must declare Umno Kelantan illegal, a move which will consequently cancel his sacking from the party.

Amran was Tanah Merah Umno secretary when he was stripped of his membership on March 1 last year, allegedly for breaking Article 20.7 of the party constitution by taking Pondok Lama division chief Datuk Ikmal Hisham to court.

Following the party’s 1987 leadership crisis which saw Umno being ruled an illegal society, a new constitution was drawn up following the set up of Umno Baru which effectively barred members from taking internal disputes to court.

In an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider shortly after the filing, Amran said the main issue was less his upset at losing his hard-won party secretary post in the last Umno divisional elections in 2008 compared to the impact on the party in the PAS-ruled state.

“The issue is that 190 delegates who attended the MKT in 2009 would be ‘haram’[illegitimate],” he said, revealing the factious struggle within the Malay party that could hurt its chance to wrest back control of Kelantan in the general elections likely to be called within the year.

The grand old party has been battling to win back Kelantan from the Islamist party for the past 21 years; it nearly succeeded in 2004 national polls when it lost by a one-seat majority.

In papers filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday, Amran highlighted a letter from thePublic Complaints Bureau (PCB) that stated the Registrar had examined his allegations and decided to reject his request on grounds the issue was still under investigation.

“As per your request, RoS does not have access to extend this problem/complaint to Umno’s Supreme Working Committee or Umno’s Secretary-General or Umno Liaison Chairman or Umno President because this is under the authority of the [Home] Minister who is also one of the Umno Vice-Presidents,” said the letter dated November 25, 2010 and signed by one Najmuddin Esa on behalf of the PCB director-general.

In the same letter, the agency under the Prime Minister’s Department said the RoS had extended its investigations and recommended further action in a separate report to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein through the latter’s political secretary.

Amran is seeking a judicial review from the High Court to override the RoS’ decision to deny him the registration documents for 126 branches and 14 divisions in Umno Kelantan, as well as a court order to compel the Registrar to supply the information requested.

His lawyer, Adlan Hadi Mohamed Yusof, explained that under Section 10 of the Societies’ Act, any person has the right to request information on any registered organisation to be disclosed.

There are few exceptions to the law, the lawyer added, citing disclosure of the society’s accounts as an example of request only supplied to a member of that organisation.

There are a total of 131 Umno branches in Kelantan.

According to Amran, only five are legitimate — the other 126, including his own Simpang Tiga Seri Mahligai branch, have never been registered.

The 47-year-old said the RoS had also issued a notice ordering four Umno branches in the Tanah Merah division to fold in 2007; but claimed the party’s central leadership, endorsed by its secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, had allowed the four to continue holding meetings.