Umno decided to postpone party elections on June 18, and not July 7, party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan clarified today.
He said the decision was made via a circular resolution and assented by the supreme council, as in-person meetings could not be done due to the total lockdown being in place.
Ahmad (above) added that the supreme council meeting on July 7 only reaffirmed the circular resolution.
He said this while reading out a press statement during a virtual presser.
Yesterday, Registrar of Societies (ROS) director-general Jasri Kasim, in a letter to Umno, declared the postponement of the party's election invalid as the supreme council's term had expired when it made the decision.
It said the current party leadership's term expired on June 30, whereas the decision to defer elections was made on July 7.
Ahmad's clarification tracks with a previous Malaysiakini report in June that the supreme council had decided to postpone party elections via a circular resolution.
In his statement, he said Umno's constitution does not define how a supreme council decision can be made.
Ahmad added that exchanges between Umno and the ROS had created a "legitimate" expectation that the latter had agreed for the Umno elections to be deferred.
He also said the Covid-19 situation currently would make holding party elections very difficult.
Ahmad hopes his explanation would solve problems between Umno and the ROS.
The ROS move to invalidate Umno's decision to defer elections came hot on the heels of a split among party MPs between a pro-Perikatan Nasional (PN) faction led by party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob and an opposing faction led by president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Umno elections are supposed to be held every three years, but the supreme council is empowered to delay elections by 18 months. - Mkini
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