The ongoing ' peace talks ' between the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) moderated by the Human Resources Ministry may be in danger of being derailed due to a violation of a temporary ceasefire agreed to by the feuding parties.

The ministry is the one responsible for proposing a temporary ceasefire between the feuding parties, which includes agreeing to put all legal matters in abeyance pending a proper resolution through a fresh election.

However it has now come to light that the ministry is guilty of a sneak attack against one of the factions when it sought an early hearing date for a pending legal matter.

In a letter dated Aug 26, Director-General of Trade Union (DGTU) Zulkifly Abdullah requested the High Court to expedite the hearing of a judicial review that would determine the legitimacy of the union leadership - which is the real bone of contention in the prolonged internal dispute.

The hearing, set for Sept 18, has been brought forward by almost two months, from its initial date of Nov 19.

Abdul Jalil Hamid, a leader of one faction, questioned the action of Zulkifly, especially when he should have been aware that the task force to solve the problem had already been set up on Aug 20.

Unreasonable charge

The legal action for which the DGTU intervened involved an action by Abdul Jalil and seven others, seeking a judicial review of the DGTU's decision that recognised Muhammad Fauzi Shamsuddin's group as the official exco in 2001.

The deal was struck between the parties in an "exploratory meeting" on Sept 3, attended by about 30 'officials' from both rival groups led by 'current president' Abdul Jalil and 'former deputy president' Muhammad Fauzi.

The special task force was set up as a last-ditch attempt to resolve the two-year impasse which includes several court cases and allegations of financial mismanagement.

It is led by ministry Secretary-General Dr Mohd Yahaya Nordin, accompanied by Labour Department Director-General Ismail Rahim and Zulkifly.

Mohd Noor Basir, the 'general secretary' of the rival group, when contacted in Seremban today, said Solomon's group is now being unreasonable in playing hard to get.

"That group has refused to accept our proposals and that of the ministry. How are we supposed to move on from here?" he asked when contacted today.

Fresh mandate

His team proposed for the joint exco to comprise officials who were in the line-up on Oct 30 2001, the day Solomon was removed as general secretary.

The union subsequently became embroiled in a series of controversies.

The ministry, on the other hand, had proposed for a 10-member joint exco, comprising members from both teams, until a fresh election is held.

But during the Sept 9 meeting, Mohd Noor said Solomon was pushing for his counter-proposal asking for the current 'exco' (Solomon's group) to be retained pending a fresh mandate.

"He said the other proposals were irrelevant. So, the ministry gave Solomon one week to discuss the joint exco proposal.

"I just feel that this will not work but we'll see how it goes. Now, it is up to the other group whether they want to resolve the issue or not."

Solomon is expected to meet the task force on Sept 27 for a decision on whether his team has accepted the ministry's joint exco proposal, but it may not take place depending on the outcome of next week's hearing.

Factions blamed

At Wednesday's post-cabinet press conference, an exasperated Fong blamed the factions for setting pre-conditions which would prove to be a major stumbling block towards calling for a fresh election.

Mohd Noor, in refuting Fong's statement, said he was not sure what was going on anymore.

"Everyone is saying something different and the talks do not seem to be heading anywhere."

Fong also blasted both camps for "hanging on" to power despite having no support from the 28,000 NUBE members.

The minister also deflected criticisms blaming the ministry for taking two years to deal with the NUBE's internal dispute. He said the parties should bear the blame for repeated postponements due to legal action.

When contacted in Penang today, Abdul Jalil said his group had no choice but to proceed with the case.

"We respected the agreement but the ministry did not. The DGTU should not have asked for an early hearing date while talks are underway. Now, everything has been jeopardised," he said.

"I'm not so sure now whether the ministry is really serious about resolving this matter."

Audit report

Meanwhile, NUBE insiders believe that the ministry is adamant against releasing the external audit report, a copy of which was denied to both groups, as it may turn out to be more damaging to Muhammad Fauzi's group.

Fong maintained that the police have to complete their investigations and charge the culprits first before the report can be released as a court document. It is unclear whether the allegations are against a particular faction.

The ministry had approved the investigative audit after each group tried to outdo the other in fighting for control of the union funds meant for its daily operations.

The audit report resulted in a police report against the NUBE by the Department of Trade Union Affairs for alleged financial discrepancies.

This was promptly followed by a complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption Agency by Abdul Jalil's people against the DGTU for negligence in discharging his official duties.