PETALING JAYA: Umno said today that its Supreme Council has the “absolute power” to postpone party elections for 18 months, and disputed a statement by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) that the postponement is invalid.
Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the decision to postpone the elections was taken in February, and reaffirmed in June. The registrar had then said there was no objection to the postponement.
Ahmad’s statement came in response to a letter by RoS director-general Jasri Kasim, who said an Umno Supreme Council decision on July 7 to postpone the elections was not legitimate as the term for Supreme Council members elected in 2018 had ended on June 30.
Ahmad said the registrar’s decision was based on minutes of the July 7 Supreme Council meeting.
Disputing the decision, he outlined a chronology of events relating to the party’s action on the elections.
He said the party had decided on the postponement on Feb 19, but had then referred the matter to the RoS, health ministry and National Security Council in April and May for guidance on conducting meetings and elections during a pandemic.
On June 18, the majority of the Supreme Council agreed to postpone the elections as they did not wish to hold a virtual election.
“RoS acknowledged the letter from Umno dated June 24 in a letter (sent to Umno) dated July 19, which among others stated that RoS had no reservations for polls to be postponed,” Ahmad said.
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 registrar of its decision.
“The party informed the registrar of its decision made at the Supreme Council meeting on July 7 in a letter dated July 30,” he said in a press conference today.
Ahmad said the matter raised by the registrar’s letter was a non-issue. - FMT
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