KUALA LUMPUR – Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan has characterised allegations of unregistered delegates taking part in the voting on the motion of no-contest for the party’s top two posts at its general assembly yesterday as mere slander.
He said that he had explicitly requested the party’s permanent chairman Tan Sri Badruddin Amiruldin to order these individuals to leave the hall before voting took place in the evening.
“I am 100% confident the wild accusations (of ghost voters) are false,” he said in a statement this morning.
Ahmad said that it would also be impossible for such voters to be in the gallery as delegates are required to wear passes portraying their faces throughout the proceeding.
“Neighbouring seats would also certainly recognise one another, while the programme host had announced that delegates are required to sit in their respectively allocated seats,” he added.
In a video posted on Instagram stories yesterday, former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who had expressed interest in contesting for the president post, claimed ghost voters were brought in to pass the motion of no-contest.
He said he was informed that the tagging, which marks the designated seats for the delegates, had been removed, allowing outsiders to take those spots.
A separate viral video, which was also posted by Khairy, seemed to insinuate that several individuals acting as ghost voters were being briefed on what to do.
Commenting on this, Ahmad said Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki had confirmed with him that the individuals spotted in the video clips are personnel from the party wing’s Skuad Sabil volunteer group in charge of maintaining peace during the assembly.
“The video was recorded from Bilik Terengganu, which was reserved for the Skuad Sabil secretariat,” he clarified.
Meanwhile, responding to claims that the no-contest motion for the president and deputy president posts is illegal, Ahmad said he was informed by Umno’s legal team that its tabling is in accordance with due process.
“The Umno secretariat has conducted the general assembly meticulously, in an organised manner and with a high level of efficiency,” he said.
At a press conference yesterday, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said that the tabling of the motion could have been unconstitutional as assembly regulation stipulates that a notice for any motion shall be made by a proposer at least 14 days prior to proceeding.
He also said the decision to pass the motion may be in violation of the party constitution, which he noted specifically stipulates that the selection of post-holders shall be done via an election. – The Vibes, January 15, 2023
