The Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) today pressed on with its forum on election, albeit with some amendments, after being pressured by the government to abort it.

NONE Umcedel director Mohammad Redzuan Othman ( right ) told the audience at the forum today that the instruction had come from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Higher Education Ministry.

"When I returned from London two weeks ago, I received a text message asking that it be cancelled.

"I was told this was an instruction from PMO and the Higher Education Ministry... no reason was given," Mohammad Redzuan told the lecture hall at UM in Kuala Lumpur, this morning.

Mohammad Redzuan, who is also UM Arts and Social Science faculty dean, said he then consulted the university's vice-chancellor who was supportive and told him to decide on the matter.

"After talking over with my colleagues, we decided we will discuss the issues in an academic way," he said.

Opposition politicians

The bone of contention was the second session of forum, which was supposed to feature opposition politicians, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and PAS vice-president Husam Musa, besides BN's Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Hulu Selangor MP P Kamalanathan of the MIC.

The title of the forum was 'GE13: BN or PR will triumph?'

As a result, Mohammad Redzuan said, this session was scrapped and replaced with a new session comprising academicians.

Other than this, the event also had a presentation by Mohammad Redzuan and an earlier forum featuring media personalities.

NONE The first session, titled ‘The hopes of BN and PR', featured Harakah Daily editor-in chief Zulkifli Sulong, Sinar Harian executive editorial adviser Abdul Jalil Ali and Malaysiakini chief editor Fathi Aris Omar.

However, Mohammad Redzuan said Nurul Izzah ( left ) would still turn up at the forum later today, but she would be in the audience.

"When I called her and informed her not to come, she asked if she could still come and be part of the audience. I said I cannot stop her, she is the MP of Lembah Pantai.

"So, for those who want to see Nurul Izzah, stay back for the afternoon session," he said.

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