Umno concerned over ‘technical errors’ if polls held virtually, says Zahid

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party had not held a virtual election at any level before, and the election would involve 3.3 million members.

PETALING JAYA: Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said there were concerns about “technical errors” occurring if party polls were held virtually.

In defending the party’s decision to postpone its election for 18 months, he said this was especially due to the weak internet coverage in rural areas.

“It is a real problem,” Zahid said in a Facebook post.

Yesterday, in disputing the Registrar of Societies’ (RoS) claim that the postponement is invalid, Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the majority of the Supreme Council members agreed to postpone the polls as they did not wish to hold a virtual election.

Zahid also said it was based on the fact that the party had not held a virtual election at any level before.

The party election, he added, would involve some 3.3 million members from various wings and divisions.

He went on to say that Umno’s decision to postpone polls cannot be compared to the decision to postpone parliamentary sittings.

“Parliament can still be held with strict SOPs, which can be easily monitored.”

Zahid said the “latest developments” were actually a desperate attempt by the Perikatan Nasional government to put pressure on Umno and weaken the party.

Meanwhile, the Malay Mail reported that the RoS’ decision to invalidate the postponement of Umno elections would not lead to the party being deregistered.

“The department’s announcement that Umno’s decision to postpone party elections is invalid will not cause Umno’s registration to be revoked,” RoS director-general Jasri Kasim was quoted as saying.

Jasri was responding to lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who said that RoS’ next possible step would be to suspend or deregister Umno.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan had said the decision to postpone the elections was taken in February, and reaffirmed in June.

He said the decision to delay the elections was in line with the party’s constitution. Article 10.16 clearly stipulated that the Supreme Council has the right to postpone the polls, and Umno only has to inform the RoS of its decision. - FMT