Umno blindsided by ROS' stand, says it doesn’t make sense

 

Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan is unable to comprehend the rationale behind the Registrar of Societies' (ROS) sudden decision to declare that the party’s decision to put off its leadership elections as “invalid”.

He rued that the ROS is forcing Umno to hold a rushed election which would involve more than 20,000 branches at a time when the nation facing record highs in daily Covid-19 cases.

“This does not make sense,” he added in a Facebook post late last night.

Shahril revealed that Umno's lawyers confirmed that due process was followed in requesting for the polls to be postponed up to 18 months and secretary-general Ahmad Maslan would respond to the ROS.

“When other parties requested for a postponement of their polls, there was no objection.

“When other parties wanted to hold a hybrid congress, this was disallowed due to concerns of a Covid-19 outbreak,” he added.

On the possibility of using an electronic approach to conduct the Umno polls, Shahril recalled de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan's remarks in June last year about the difficulties in conducting such elections.

“I wish to note that in June 2020, the de facto law minister said the government is studying the proposal for a 'virtual' general election through electronic voting.

“The same minister commented that there are numerous challenges with regard to implementation,” he added.

Shahril said if the government, with all its resources, conceded that it is difficult to hold such an election, what more forcing a political party to do so within a short period.

“It does not make sense. It does not make sense from a practical standpoint. It does not make sense from a health and security standpoint.

“It only makes sense from a certain political standpoint,” he added.

Umno faction withdraws support

Yesterday, ROS director-general Jasri Kasim, in a letter to Umno, declared the postponement of the election as invalid.

He said the declaration was made based on the minutes of an Umno supreme council meeting which decided on the postponement.

"Based on the minutes of a July 7 supreme council meeting to postpone elections for the supreme council, divisions and branches for 18 months, the ROS is of the view that the decision is invalid.

"The decision is invalid because the term of the supreme council office bearers for 2018/2021 had ended on June 30," he added.

Umno elections are held every three years, with the last on June 30, 2018.

The ROS' decision came in the wake of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and a group of party lawmakers withdrawing their support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Following this, Zahid claimed that the prime minister has lost majority support.

Muhyiddin, however, insisted that he still has the support and agreed to a vote of confidence at the September parliament session.

Zahid's faction and the opposition have demanded that parliament convenes immediately to vote on the motion, alleging that the prime minister could be planning to engineer defections to bolster his position in the next few weeks. - Mkini