KUALA LUMPUR – Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan has insisted that the party's move to amend its constitution to postpone internal elections to after the 15th general election has been done according to law, and therefore should be valid.
Umno is currently racing against time to get the Registrar of Societies (RoS) approve the amendment, amid questions being raised on whether the special general assembly held in May to pass the resolution was legal.
The party’s leadership tenure for the 2018-2021 term was supposed to end on June 30 last year, but the leadership postponed it by 18 months. This means that the extended term will end by the end of this year and party polls must be held before December 30.
In May this year, the Umno special general assembly unanimously approved a motion to amend its constitution, which, among other things, allows party elections to be held no more than six months after a general election.
It has been argued that the 18-month postponement means that current office bearers are merely carrying out their duties as caretakers and no longer have the power to make policy decisions.
In a statement today, Ahmad rubbished this notion, noting that Clause 10.16 of the Umno constitution, which provides the supreme council the power to postpone its election by 18 months, means that all current elected leaders are still the legitimate post holders.
“The postponement was confirmed through an approval letter from RoS on August 30, 2021, meaning the term of the office bearers has been extended to December 29, 2022.
“During this extension period, there is no such term as ‘caretaker’ in Umno’s constitution. “During my meeting with RoS, they also confirmed that the incumbent post holders are not caretakers.
“As such, Umno has the right to make any decision in the party’s interest. This is provided under Clause 10.15 of our constitution.”
Ahmad pointed out that apart from passing an amendment in May to further postpone its internal polls, the party had also, during this extension period of 18 months, contested in the Melaka and Johor state elections, and held its annual and special general meetings.
“All of these are valid with respect to Umno’s constitution,” he stressed.
On May 15, the special Umno general assembly passed the amendment to empower the supreme council to postpone selections at the council, division and branch levels for not more than 18 months from the date of an initial selection, or not more than six months after a general election, or whichever comes later.
RoS typically has 60 days to respond to applications made by parties, with the registrar confirming yesterday that the decision on the application by Umno will be known on July 16 at the latest.
According to Ahmad, the amendment made by Umno to its constitution is done based on procedure and process that have been approved by RoS.
He also said the party has provided all additional documents requested by the registrar and that there were no more further requests since.
“We believe and hope there is no attempt by RoS to block this amendment,” he said.
He added that approval had also already been given to MCA recently for a similar amendment to its party constitution. – The Vibes, July 8, 2022
