Aug 30 ruling on whether ‘no contest’ exemption for Umno can be challenged

 

Three BN members claim that the home minister’s exemption allowing the top two posts in Umno, held by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) and Mohamad Hasan, to remain uncontested is unconstitutional.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here will rule on Aug 30 whether three Barisan Nasional members can challenge a decision by home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to exempt the top two posts in Umno from being contested at the party elections last January.

At its 2022 annual general assembly held on Jan 14, the party approved a motion calling for the posts of president and deputy president not to be contested at its elections.

In March, Saifuddin confirmed that he had granted the party an exemption under Section 70 of the Societies Act 1966, which allowed the top two posts to remain uncontested.

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Justice Amarjeet Singh fixed the date for the decision today after hearing submissions from lawyer Thalia Rohaina Abdul Latiff, representing Satarriah Abdul Karim, Zaidi Abdul Majid and P Vellasamy, as well as senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly.

Satarriah and Zaidi are members of the Kampung Bukit C2 Lembah Pantai Umno branch, while Vellasamy is from MIC’s Lembah Pantai branch.

The trio claim that Saifuddin’s decision contravened Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution on equality, saying it had denied other members the chance of challenging the incumbents – Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Mohamad Hasan – for the posts of president and deputy president, respectively.

They said they were not given a right to be heard by Saifuddin, and that the minister did not provide a reason for his decision to grant Umno the exemption.

The trio want the court to quash Saifuddin’s decision in granting the exemption. - FMT