Umno has upper hand in ex-members' legal dispute, thanks to Dr M

Umno has the upper hand with regard to the judicial review application by its ex-members, thanks to its former president Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

This is due to the amendments to the Societies Act 1966 during Mahathir's tenure.

Speaking to Oriental Daily, Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun noted that Section 18(C) of the Act stipulated that party decisions cannot be challenged in court.

He said Umno's decision to postpone its polls is final and conclusive, and the courts have no jurisdiction to interfere in decisions made by political parties.

"Ironically, this was the amendment brought by then prime minister Mahathir to limit the power of the judiciary's interference following Umno's internal fight," he added.

Following the Umno crisis, which saw the party being de-registered, and Mahathir registering Umno Baru, the Societies Act was amended in January 1990.

Among the amendments was an ouster clause ousting access to courts to challenge, appeal against review or quash any decision of a political party on the interpretation of its constitution or regulations or any matter relating to the affairs of the same party.

Due to this, Hafarizam said only the Registrar of Societies (ROS), and not the courts, has jurisdiction to decide on Umno's legal status.

Furthermore, he said the 16 applicants also do not have the local standi to mount a challenge following their expulsion from Umno.

"Clause 20.7 of the party constitution stipulates that any member who goes to court over party matters would automatically lose membership," he added.

Hafarizam said the ROS had approved the postponement of Umno's election until April 19, 2019.

"If I remember correctly, ROS notified us about the approval back in October or November 2017," he added.

He clarified that ROS approved the postponement under additional powers granted to them under Section 3A of the Societies Act, instead of Section 13A(4) of the same Act.

Section 3 of the Act concerns the additional powers bestowed on the registrar to effectively discharge his or her duties.

Section 13A(4) of the Act spelt out the circumstances under which the registrar can approve the extension.

"Section 13A(4) of the Act is for us to follow the instruction given by the registrar, but we applied for the extension ourself, so the registrar approved it citing Section 3A," said Hafarizam.

On April 20, the 16, who were then still Umno members, filed a judicial review to quash the ROS' decision to allow Umno a time extension in order to hold its party polls.

They also sought the deregistration of Umno under Section 14(2) and 14(5) of the Societies Act for both provisional and permanent dissolution.

The ROS and Umno organising secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh were named as respondents.

This followed their argument that the last day for Umno branches to hold their elections was on Feb 28 and the last day for the supreme council and 191 divisions to function was on April 19, this year. - Mkini