The vote-counting for Universiti Malaya's campus election which was suspended last Thursday for suspected irregularities in one of its faculties resumed this evening following the conclusion of the fresh round of polling in the affected education faculty today.

The vote-count for the seven general constituency seats started early at about 4pm in the university's main hall, Dewan Tunku Canselor, about half an hour before the conclusion of the polling at the education faculty.

The ballot boxes for both the faculty and general constituency levels from the education faculty were later brought for counting into the hall by campus security personnel.

It is believed that the 'anti-establishment' group is leading in all seven general constituencies. The full results of the election are expected to be known later tonight.

However, the anti-establishment group or better known as "Gagasan" is expected to maintain its dominance of the UM Students Representative Council which comprises the elected faculty and general representatives.

The group has already won 27 seats out of the 32 contested at faculty level while the 'pro-establishment' group called the UM Undergraduates Coalition Council (MGMUM) was left trailing behind with only three seats.

Malaysiakini learnt that the suspension of the earlier vote-count was due to protest from the 'anti-establishment' group who claimed that ineligible students were allowed to cast their votes at the education faculty during the campus-wide poll last Thursday.

Party system

Although the party system is not allowed in most universities, it is an open secret that such a political arrangement exists on most local campuses.

The 'anti-establishment' group, which is labeled the "green group" by the Chinese media, is believed to be aligned to the opposition, notably the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), through its proxies in the Muslim undergraduates societies of most universities.

The group also included some "self-styled progressives" who despised the inefficiency and restrictiveness in the system of governance in campuses and in the country.

Many of these students are believed to be aligned to the Democratic Students and Youth Movement (Dema) which was set up after the Anwar Ibrahim debacle in 1998, to encourage young persons to take an interest in politics.

While most do not overtly demonstrate their political leanings as university authorities would come down hard on them otherwise, 'anti-establishment' students are generally critical and less supportive of the policies implemented by the government and university authorities.

Meanwhile, the pro-establishment group, which is also known as the "blue group", is generally sponsored by the establishment such as the ruling political parties or the respective university authorities.