Umno's registration: Govt policy is there's no policy - Takiyuddin

 

PAS continues to criticise Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s move to prevent Umno’s deregistration over its motion to prevent a contest for its top two positions.

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan questioned the government’s actual policy regarding the matter, adding that it sets a precedence for other parties.

“We asked the minister on what basis and what is the government's policy and approach.

“If that is done to Umno, maybe it can be done to other parties. This is what we want to know. It seems that the current government’s policy is that there is no policy,” he said.

Takiyuddin (above) was speaking after officiating the Kota Bharu PAS 56th Annual general meeting in Kota Bharu, Kelantan today.

In January, the Umno general assembly approved a motion to prevent a contest for the position of party president and deputy president during the upcoming party election.

Critics have argued that the motion was in contravention of Article 9.3 of Umno’s constitution which stipulated that all key party positions must be subjected to an election every three years.

Saifuddin however invoked Section 70 of the Societies Act to exempt Section 13(1)(c)(iv) from being applied to Umno.

Section 13(1)(c)(iv) stipulates that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) may deregister a party for contravening its own rules.

Alleged ROS letter to Umno

Takiyuddin reiterated his demands to know if an ROS letter which was purportedly leaked to Umno recently was authentic.

According to the letter that has been widely shared online, the ROS urged Umno to take “corrective measures” because the decision to prevent the election for the top two positions was invalid.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

“Suddenly, there was a motion (during the Umno AGM) stating two positions (president and deputy president) will not be contested. Umno members themselves referred this matter to the ROS.

“A letter has been leaked and we don’t know whether the letter is correct or not. We ask the minister (Saifuddin) if is it true that ROS states that Umno’s additional motion is invalid, contradictory, contrary to Clause 9.3 of the Umno constitution, and that it instructed the party to correct it?

“If the letter is correct, suddenly the minister used his discretion to exclude Umno from being subject to the matter. We ask why, he has not answered,” Takiyuddin said.

Saifuddin previously refused to address the issue of the letter, stating that the proper avenue to dispute his exemption granted to Umno was in court.

As for his rationale, Saifuddin said this was a state secret.

“I’m sure you know that (some) government correspondences are classified as secrets. We can’t make it public. Surely there is a rationale for the decision,” he told the Dewan Rakyat earlier this week.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi denied any “external interference” from any quarters regarding Saifuddin’s decision.

He stressed that the controversial no-contest motion was decided by the party’s 2022 general assembly, which holds the highest power in the party. - Mkini