UPM students claim poll regulations unfair

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) is once again accused of implementing 'unfair' electoral regulations by its students.

The so called anti-establishment group - the UPM Student Coalition (GMMUPM) - said the regulations were a clear violation of their right to a fair campus election.

Speaking at a press conference in UPM today, group representative Lau Wai Seng said the group had tried to submit a memorandum on the matter to the university’s vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R Abdullah.

"He was not available so we met with his representative instead and submitted the memorandum to him," he explained.

Seven points highlighted

In the memorandum, Lau said the group had highlighted seven important issues that should be addressed by the campus authorities to ensure a fair elections.

• The campaigning period will only be allowed during the weekends where there will be no students to campaign to.

• Students from the medical faculty will not be able to participate as they are still on holiday and will only return to campus two days after nomination day.

• Students are prohibited from campaigning using printed materials which means that the students can only carry out verbal campaigns.

• Matters pertaining to campaigning i.e. production of candidate posters will be solely handled by UPM’s executive committee with no participation from the students.

• These regulations mean that students will have a narrow space to campaign effectively due to the bureaucracy created at the college and faculty levels.

• Concerns raised in point number two means that students may miss the chance to vote for a capable candidate.

• The refusal to have an independent body to monitor the elections and have only university bodies to monitor the elections will not ensure its fairness.

Elaborating on the last point, Lau said university officers had informed them that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) had offered to provide a non-partisan monitoring team via letter.

"But university officials gave the impression that they are not ready to have an external body to monitor the campus elections," he said.

Polling for all campuses in the country is on Jan 19 while nomination of candidates in UPM will take place tomorrow.

Candidates' sudden withdrawal

In a related development, three anti-establishment candidates from Universiti Malaya raised eyebrows when they suddenly announced their withdrawal.

None of them provided any explanation as to why they decided to pull out, said a student from the same faction leaving others to speculate that there was foul play behind the move.

Their decision will ensure certain victory for their pro-establishment rivals.

Campus elections have always been perceived as a platform for existing political parties, be it Barisan Nasional or the Pakatan Rakyat, to mold and fish for future support.

As public universities are under the control of the government, many anti-establishment students have often accused university authorities of partiality and mistreatment.