ROS allows Umno to hold party polls after GE15 - Ahmad Maslan
The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has approved Umno’s application to amend its constitution to postpone its party election to six months after the 15th general election, said party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan.
In a statement, he said the matter was conveyed to him via a letter today.
The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has approved Umno’s application to amend its constitution to postpone its party election up to six months after the 15th general election, said party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan.
In a statement, he said the matter was conveyed to him via a letter today.
“ROS has approved with some amendments to (our) application on the party constitution. The approval takes effect today,” he said.
Ahmad said the ROS also requested that the party election be held within one parliamentary term.
“This means the party election will be held no later than six months after GE15,” he said.
Emboldening Zahid
Observers told Malaysiakini that the ROS' decision would likely embolden Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is pressuring Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to hold parliamentary elections.
Umno's national leadership was already playing on added time. It was elected in June 2018 for a three-year term.
Before the term expired last year, the party's leadership invoked Clause 10.16 of its constitution to delay its election for 18 months. That deadline will expire on Dec 29 this year.
Umno, MCA and Gerakan are the only parties in the country which has rules that allow them to go beyond the usual "three years plus 18 months" term.
By delaying Umno's leadership elections, Zahid has secured the power to choose the party's candidate for the parliamentary election.
Observers expect Zahid to stack the candidates with his loyalists, which would be useful when choosing a prime minister.
Umno said it submitted the notice for the constitutional amendment to the ROS on May 17.
Ahmad previously expressed his frustration and said that the party had twice submitted additional information to the ROS.
He said that the party has two options if the ROS does not approve its constitutional amendment to delay the party election.
These are a contingency plan he called “Plan B” - about which no details were provided - while the other option is to hold its internal election as required, which is by December this year.
On July 7, the ROS said that a decision on Umno’s constitutional amendment application was to be revealed at the very latest by July 16.
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