United for the Rights of Malaysians Party (Urimai) today condemned the Anwar Ibrahim-led “reform-minded” government for allegedly blocking its attempt to be a lawfully registered organisation.
This comes after the Registrar of Societies (ROS) rejected Urimai’s request to be registered as a political party, eight months after it first submitted its application.
Urimai pro tem chairperson P Ramasamy said they were informed of the decision yesterday but were not surprised by the rejection, given what other parties had to go through in the past before they could be lawfully recognised.
However, he stressed that it was ironic they had to face similar issues under the Pakatan Harapan administration.
“Ironically, the government that has rejected our application for registration is none other than the reform-minded Madani government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“Less than a week ago, our lawyers received a letter from ROS stating that our application is still being processed. Within a matter of a few days, we received the rejection letter,” Ramasamy (above) said in a statement.
Coincidence?
According to the former Penang deputy chief minister, Urimai had anticipated the rejection because some of its leaders had been critical of the government.
The party also suspected that the ROS decision was timed to coincide with the Sungai Bakap by-election in Penang, allegedly to show Putrajaya’s anger towards Urimai for not supporting it.
“The rejection of our application for the formation of Urimai is indicative of the government’s anger towards our leaders for opposing them in the tightly fought Sungai Bakap polls.
“We would not be intimidated by the actions of the Madani government that refuses to respect the basic right of freedom of association for citizens of this country.”
Ramasamy said the party’s legal team will submit an appeal to the home minister and proceed with other follow-up actions following the law.
On Nov 27, 2023, Ramasamy announced the formation of Urimai after his departure from DAP.
The veteran politician said he made the decision after losing faith in the concept of a multiracial political party.
“The multiracial political parties that exist now do not represent Indians. For example, DAP and PKR are multiracial with many Indian members.
“But what is the state of Indian members in these parties? They (Indian leaders) cannot speak. They need to obey the leadership’s instructions. The party’s leadership is more focused on their respective races.
“If there are Indian leaders who speak out, they would be marginalised or fired from the party,” he was reported as saying. - Mkini
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