KUALA LUMPUR – The Higher Education Ministry and Universiti Malaya’s management are alleged to have encroached into matters concerning campus elections.
The claim, made by University of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany), said that the Universiti Malaya campus election committee (CEC) was forced to cancel the June 27 nomination of student election candidates.
“When CEC marked July 10 as the new nomination date, UM management once again forcibly requested CEC to delay its plans on grounds that an online election violated Covid-19 standard operating procedures,” Umany said in a statement.
It added that there was also interference by the Higher Education Ministry, which instructed all higher learning institutions to reschedule campus elections from the second semester to the first semester of every academic year.
Umany, however, did not provide any evidence to support its allegation of ministerial interference.
“According to information derived from internal sources, ever since the governance of Perikatan Nasional coalition began, Higher Education Minister Datuk Noraini Ahmad has instructed every college and university, either public or private, to adjust the date of campus elections from the second semester to the first semester of each academic year,” said the statement.
The Universiti Malaya campus elections is an event where undergraduate students vote for new leadership for the University Malaya Student Union.
The CEC is the party responsible for organising the elections in a manner that upholds student autonomy.
“With that, the autonomy of the CEC in organising campus elections had been maliciously encroached upon by the university's management,” the statement added. – The Vibes, July 10, 2021
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