PTPTN freeze: A legal poser

Bar Council's Andrew Khoo asks if Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin's arbitrary decision to stop PTPTN loans was proper under the law.

PETALING JAYA: Was the decision to freeze PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund Corporation) loans for students at Universiti Selangor (Unisel) legal?

Did Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin abuse his ministerial powers when he ordered the freeze, and was the decision made based on legitimate grounds?

Posing these questions, Bar Council human rights committee chairman Andrew Khoo said the students of Unisel have the right to challenge the decision in court and seek a judicial review.

“If I’m a student and I’ve been given a place Unisel, and either I’ve applied for the PTPTN loan and I didn’t get it, or I suddenly know it’s not going to be considered.

“I would say, it is a question of whether the individual is treated fairly. Why was Unisel excluded from the loan?” asked Khoo.

Khoo said that in administrative law, Khaled would first have to prove that he did not interfere with the everyday running of PTPTN over and beyond his ministerial powers.

“In this case, Khaled has conceded that it was he who suggested it. Is that an abuse of power? If so, he can be charged for it.

“After all, was not Anwar charged for misuse of power when he asked police not to investigate him over a sex scandal book? Question is, is this the same thing?”

“Is it an unlawful interference with the powers of the board? Did he overstep the line? What’s the role of the minister within PTPTN structure?”

Secondly, Khoo said, even if Khaled had the powers, it must be shown that the decision was a legitimate one based on proper exercise of discretion.

“In law, you cannot make decisions as you please. Was his decision based on political consideration or on sound judgement?”

‘It is a political decision’
Khoo cited the ‘Wednesbury reasonableness’ test, a legal term which talks about something being so unreasonable that no reasonable authority acting reasonably could have made it.

“The only reason given by the minister thus far is that it is a move to ‘test the market’…to see if Pakatan Rakyat’s policies can work. It is a political decision. And to me, that is wrong.”

“If it was a question of financial irregularity on the part of Unisel, then that’s a different matter. But right now, the decision has nothing to do with academics.

“In this case, the students are the victims. It’s not for the minister to arbitrarily decide if a particular university qualifies under the PTPTN programme.

“All students, by right, should be treated equaly, regardless of which university they go to,” he said.

Asked if Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim urging students not to repay PTPTN loans was proper, Khoo said: “Anwar doesn’t speak for the government of Selangor or Unisel, or the students. They are trying to hit at Anwar, and they have unfairly victimised the students.”

Earlier today, it was announced that the National Higher Education Loan Fund has lifted the freeze on loans for two Selangor-run tertiary institutions. This was confirmed by Universiti Selangor (Unisel) director Faekah Hussin.