Joint-action group urges UM to explain delay in campus polls

 

A joint-action group, Suara Siswa UM, has called on Universiti Malaya (UM) management to explain to the public the reason behind the postponement of campus elections.

The group claimed that the campus election was postponed twice, on June 27 and July 10, following interference from the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE).

“According to sources from the Universiti Malaya Campus Election Committee (UMCEC) and the Universiti Malaya Students’ Union (UMSU), the MOHE had suggested to standardise all campus elections in the first academic semester across public universities.

“A member of MOHE sitting in the board later directed UMCEC to adhere to the suggestion. Consequently, various university departments started taking orders from the MOHE to delay the campus election.

“Suara Siswa UM believes the interference of the MOHE and the UM management in the campus election had overridden the rights of UMCEC in organising the election and infringed the autonomy of UM students,” Suara Siswa UM said in a statement today.

Suara Siswa UM has three component members - UM Anti-Corruption Students Force (Amar), Demokrat UM, and Universiti of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany).

The group added they suspected political involvement in the postponement, in which certain parties are trying to gain political benefits by interfering with the campus election.

The UM campus election is to vote for a new UMSU leadership, and it plays a vital role in promoting campus democracy and check-and-balance, they said.

“If the campus election is interfered with by external political forces, the institutional reforms carried out in UM in the past few years will be in peril while the rights and autonomy of UM students will be deprived once more,” they said.

In an effort to gain approval to conduct campus elections, UMCEC has launched a petition that has received over 300 signatures at time of writing.

The petition aims to urge Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Malaya Dr Sabri Musa, the Student Affairs Division, the university administration and the university board of directors to “protect and preserve the students’ autonomy” at the university.

Suara Siswa called on all UM students to stand in solidarity with UMCEC by supporting the petition. - Mkini