MTUC president hopes for positive decision from RoS

SUBANG: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is hoping for a positive decision from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) over its suspension in about one week.

MTUC president Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor said this following a meeting with the Selangor RoS director Nurul Azhar Husin on Thursday (Dec 26).

"During the meeting, our secretary-general had explained the issues to RoS.

"Maybe in a week or two, they will get back to us. As of now, we are still barred from having official meetings to give RoS room to investigate the complaints against us," he told a press conference on Thursday.

Also present were MTUC secretary-general J. Solomon and MTUC vice-president (private sector) R. Jey Kumar.

Abdul Halim said once the RoS has come up with a decision, only then MTUC could proceed further.

He said it was tedious for MTUC to call for a general council meeting as many procedures were needed.

Initially, MTUC had wanted to have its general council meeting on Sunday (Dec 29) but the suspension order has prevented it from moving forward.

"We need at least 12 weeks notice to call for the meeting. So if we get an approval from RoS in January, the nearest time frame to have our meeting would be some time in March or April," he said.

Abdul Halim also said they could not approve any cheque payment for expenses such as utility bills as its financial secretary Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani has resigned from the post.

"This can only be resolved once the general council meeting is called to accept Effendy's resignation, which he submitted on Nov 9," he said.

Abdul Halim said prior to this, MTUC was unable to have the meeting as there were pending cases and appeals in court.

After the High Court delivered a judgment, MTUC had called for a working committee on Dec 12, which it decided to hold the general council meeting on Dec 29.

The issue came out in the open after a letter dated Dec 16 from RoS went viral, stating that MTUC had been temporarily suspended, pending clarification on certain matters.

The RoS said that it had received complaints in July that MTUC was not being properly managed and that an investigation was carried out under the Societies Act.

On Dec 18, RoS issued a notice under Section 13(2) and gave MTUC one month from the date of the notice to respond.