Alarm bells have been raised on the International Islamic University campus elections following its Students Development Division changing the dates of the elections.

There are claims that it is prevent the students from participating in the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

Two notices on campus elections issued by the division was the source of confusion and concern among the students.

universiti islam antarabangsa iiu international islamic universiti This follows the first notice signed by the deputy rector (student affairs) Hamidon Abd Hamid put up on Monday (Jan 5) at about 2.30pm around the Students Development Division and the kulliyah offices.

The notice for elections on Jan 15 was removed the next day as aspiring candidates began lining up to collect the nomination forms.

On Wednesday (Jan 7), another notice for elections on Jan 19 was put up.

Pro-Mahasiswa spokesperson Ahmad Nor Muslim @ Mohd Nor said questions are being raised whether there will be another surprise before elections on Jan 19.

“Inititally, students and aspiring candidates were confused as the election was supposed to be on Jan 15 but now it is rescheduled to Jan 19 with nomination beginning three days earlier.

“To make matters worse, we are only allowed to campaign during the weekends,” he said, adding the Student Representative Council had been left vacant for the past four months.

'Violating the students’ rights'

Ahmad Nor said there was no reason given for the withdrawal of the first notice and he understood directives were given by the student development division to change the earlier date.

“I do not see the relevance of the action. Today they put up a notice, then they remove it and two days later they put up another with a different date,” he said.

“Such actions can be described as violating the students’ rights, who should have been given the right to choose and get elected, through campus elections which are done fairly and with transparency,” said Ahmad.

The campus elections will see contests for 29 seats - 24 for the various faculties and five international seats.

Ahmad Nor also said the change of dates gave an impression that it was meant to prevent students from participating in the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

“Initially, it was Jan 15. However, when the date was changed to Jan 19, none of the students will be able to go to Kuala Terengganu,” he said. The Kuala Terengganu by-election will be held on Jan 17.

UTM Pro-Aspirasi group wins six seats

In a related development, Pro-Aspirasi candidates - who are aligned to the government captured six seats at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia yesterday.

The group won three seats in in the Civil Engineering Faculty and three more seats in the Built Environment Faculty after their rival Pro-Mahasiswa did not post any candidates.

However, at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the end of nomination yesterday saw four Pro-Mahasiswa candidates win uncontested.