Saifuddin exempts Umno from deregistration

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has revealed that he exempted Umno from a law that could see the party deregistered over its upcoming polls.

This is after Umno barred contests for the Umno presidency and deputy presidency.

In a statement today, Saifuddin (above) said after examining the decision made by the Umno general assembly, he had decided to invoke Section 70 of the Societies Act.

This section allows the home minister to exempt compliance with any section of the Societies Act.

Specifically, Saifuddin said that he exempted Umno from compliance with Section 13(1)(c)(iv) which empowers the Registrar of Societies to deregister a party for contravening its rules.

The confirmation comes two days after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that Umno has received a letter on the exemption last Friday.

Following this, Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob called for the contents of the approval letter to be revealed, as there were conflicting reports on it.

Zahid later said that he would ask Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan to publish the letter to keep all Umno members informed.

On Jan 20 this year, two Umno members filed a notice of objection to the ROS over the resolution to not open Umno’s top two posts for a contest.

Muhammad Fiqri Firdaus Muhammad Rom and Aizat Fikri Mohd Nasir claimed the resolution was invalid and contravened the party’s constitution.

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