Umno opposes proposal to place political parties under EC

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan says political parties should remain under the purview of the RoS.

SEREMBAN: Umno disagrees with the proposal that the Election Commission (EC) take over the registration and regulation of political parties from the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan said political parties should remain under the purview of the RoS and not under the jurisdiction of the EC, which he said would undermine the concept of democracy as practised in the country.

“If the EC wishes to be a referee, then it should remain one because it can’t possibly be both the referee and player. The EC’s job is to conduct elections.

“If you put the EC in charge of political parties, then we may not have separation of powers.

“We must adhere to the concept of separation of powers because that is democracy and ours is a democratic country.

“The EC should be the one which manages the elections. The players are the political parties and the political parties are administered by RoS.

“I don’t think there is a need for such a proposal,” he said at a press conference here today.

Mohamad said this when asked to comment on a proposal by the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) that the EC should take over the registration of political parties, which is currently the job of the RoS.

Yesterday, ERC chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman was reported as saying that a full report on the proposal is expected to be completed later this year and would be formally submitted to the government once the report is ready. - FMT