GE14 | Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has denied that Umno is an 'illegal' party, and assured its members that the party will be able to contest in the 14th general election.

Amid concerns among the grassroots regarding the party's status, following a delay in holding its supreme council election, the Umno secretary-general insisted that it is "business as usual" and that the party would continue to operate in line with its founding principles.

"The Registrar of Societies is given the power under The Societies Act 1966, and additional powers under Section 3A of the same act, which came into force on June 10, 1988.

"The extension of time to hold Umno elections for the year 2017 has also been given by ROS, which is well within their powers.

"ROS' letter, dated Oct 31, 2017, to the Umno secretary-general's office, allows the choosing of the Umno supreme council to be postponed, until at least Apr 19, 2019," Tengku Adnan was quoted as saying by the BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) portal today.

Umno had initially announced in 2015 that they would postpone party elections – which were supposed to be held the latest by October 2016 – by 18 months.

This means that the party elections should have been held by tomorrow, April 19.

In February, however, Tengku Adnan said that party elections would be held next year, on April 19, 2019, after the party obtained approval from the ROS. 

Yesterday, former Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz had shared on Facebook a friend's legal point of view that Umno cannot contest in GE14, and would be automatically considered illegal after tomorrow due to the delay in holding party polls.

She said that the ROS had no power to give the extension, and that Tengku Adnan had relied on the wrong set of laws to justify the postponement.

The former minister likened Umno to a "headless chicken" with no members and no executive powers, and claimed that its president Najib Abdul Razak cannot be sworn in as the prime minister should BN win GE14 as the party he leads is no longer "legal."