There is no “external interference” from any quarters to save Umno from being deregistered over the party’s motion to prevent a contest for the top two positions in the upcoming party polls, said president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Speaking in a presser in the Dewan Rakyat today, Zahid (above) stressed that the controversial no-contest motion was decided by the 2022 General Assembly, which holds the highest power in the party.
“The decision was also accepted by 95 percent of the delegates. (But) We still respect the complaints of the two Umno members.
“This is not a matter of external interference. This is a clause under the Societies Act 1966 which, among others, stipulates that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) must validate the decision.
“This is something that we accept because the act is passed by Parliament,” he told reporters in the august house today.
This comes after former Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein alleged that the party has dragged Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail into the issue.
In the comment section of a video posted by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Instagram on Tuesday, Hishammuddin suggested that Zahid and those aligned to the latter suspended him and sacked Khairy from the party as a pre-emptive measure to safeguard their respective positions.
In response, Zahid opined that it’s a “personal opinion” and said those who are dissatisfied with the decision can challenge it in court.
“As mentioned by the home minister (Saifuddin), if anyone is dissatisfied with the decision, they can file a complaint and take it to court,” he said.
Yesterday, Saifuddin said the proper avenue to dispute the exemption granted to Umno from provisions under the Societies Act was the courts.
He was responding to several MPs who, during the debate of the Budget 2023, complained about Saifuddin’s decision to invoke Section 70 of the law to exempt Section 13(1)(c)(iv), which stipulates that the ROS may deregister a party for contravening its own rules, from being applied to Umno.
Section 70 stipulated the home minister’s discretionary power to exempt any society registered under the Societies Act from all or any of the provisions of the Act.
On Tuesday, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, who is Kota Bharu MP, demanded to know in Dewan Rakyat if a purported leaked ROS letter to Umno recently was authentic.
According to the purported letter that has been widely shared online, the ROS had urged Umno to take “corrective measures” because the decision to prevent the election for the top two positions was invalid.
Takiyuddin also demanded that Saifuddin explain the rationale to exempt Umno, warning that it would set a bad precedent.
However, Saifuddin refused to address the letter, saying the rationale for the exemption is a state secret and reiterated that the proper avenue for complaints was the courts. - Mkini
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