Some 350 pro-Aspirasi students and alumni from various public universities have demanded the resignation of Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah for being “too friendly” with the rival pro-Mahasiswa group.

NONE “The deputy minister has prostituted campus democracy. We are the ones who won during campus elections but he doesn't listen to us,” said Aspirasi president Mohd Shahar Abdullah.

“We are not the traitors, we love our prime minister... He (Saifuddin) is not open to listening to our voice,” he said, drawing shouts of support.

The group had gathered this afternoon near the Higher Education Ministry in Putrajaya, to make their protest heard.

Although they chanted using loud-hailers for about two hours, there was no intervention by security personnel.

NONE A high-ranking police officers, who was tasked to oversee the demonstration, said the organisers had not applied for a permit to assemble.

In fact, the police were only informed about it about an hour before it commenced, he added.

“We have orders from above to allow them (the demonstrators) to do what they have to do here for about an hour.

“If we act on them now, they will say the police are against the government,” said the cop, who asked to remain anonymous.

Singing 'hidup, hidup, hidup Najib' and 'we love Najib', the group then marched towards the ministry premises.

They displayed placards reading ‘we love Najib’, ‘step down Saifuddin’ and ‘Pembangkang Manipulasi Mahasiswa’ and sang patriotic songs such as Negaraku and Inilah Barisan Kita .

NONE Representatives of alumni associations took turns to speak to the undergraduates who arrived in buses from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, among others.

They berated the deputy minister, saying Saifuddin has failed to preserve the government's policies and the people's trust.

Last weekend, the anti-establishment Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) movement had marched for academic freedom to the Umno headquarters at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur. They presented a memorandum to Saifuddin.

NONE One then took down a flag bearing the image of the premier on a flag displayed outside the PWTC and replaced it with a banner reading ‘Liberate academic freedom’. About a minute later, the Najib flag was hoisted again.

"We view Saifuddin's misconduct (and lack of) moral and ethical principles seriously, as he has been trusted to implement government policy by the Higher Education Ministry," said Mohd Shahar, sporting a head-band with the words ‘I love PM’.

NONE Saifuddin's acceptance of the SMM memorandum was "moral betrayal" to the democracy practised at higher learning institutions, as he had not cross-checked the group’s legitimacy before lending them an ear, he said.

"We hold him responsible over the flag incident because he willingly attended the gathering and accepted their memorandum.

"We also want Saifuddin to force the illegal minority group (referring to SMM) to openly apologise to the prime minister. If he fails to (do so within) 14 days, we demand that he resign.”

Saifuddin postpones meeting

The group submitted two memoranda - one addressed to Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin and the other to Saifuddin.

NONE They turned hostile when informed that Saifuddin (left) was not available to accept the  memorandum, shouting even louder to demand his presence.

"I'm disappointed that he is not here to take this because we know for a fact that he was attending a function at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia this morning... he should have been back by now," said Mohd Shahar told reporters.

However, Saifuddin's senior private secretary Mohd Nazri Noh, who accepted the document, explained that the deputy minister was scheduled to be in Seremban after the function.

"How to come down? The person they are calling is not here," replied Mohd Nazri to insistent demands by Mohd Shahar and the chanting crowd.

Mohd Nazri told reporters that Saifuddin had initially agreed to meet the group. But since he had other events scheduled, the meeting has been postponed to noon tomorrow, at Parliament House.

NONE The group also told the government to reconsider amending Section 15 of the Universities and University Colleges Act.

This was stated in the memorandum to Mohamed Khaled (left) , which his political secretary Mohammad Khairi A Malik accepted.

Mohd Shahar argued that amending the provision, which now prohibits student involvement in political parties, could lead to "instability and chaos".

He also urged severe action against anti-establishment students who he referred to as "instigators in ruining the country's image".

A ‘Peace Campus’ campaign was launched to ensure that higher learning institutions are "politics free".

 

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