PETALING JAYA: Going to court may be an option if the Registrar of Societies (ROS) does not approve Umno’s application to amend its constitution, say the party’s supreme council members.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is an Umno vice-president, had said that the party is hoping to hear from the ROS by July 16 – when the 60-day period for the decision ends.
Commenting on this, supreme council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zakarshi said he would propose that Umno submit a judicial review if the ROS rejects the party’s application by then.
“I will suggest to Umno HQ to apply for a judicial review after the ROS sends a letter of rejection in black and white to Umno. But I believe the ROS will play a delaying tactic to avoid a judicial review,” he said, when contacted.
Puad said he would suggest the party file a judicial review during the next supreme council meeting.
He gave the example of Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) to illustrate his point.
He said the ROS only approved Muda to be registered as a political party when its president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman brought the matter to court.
Muda’s application to be registered as a political party was rejected several times by the ROS before the party took it to court.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in Muda’s favour in December last year, paving the way for its subsequent registration.
On Monday, Puad wrote on Facebook and questioned whether the ROS is a political tool that is only hostile to Umno because its minister is from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
The ROS is an agency under the Home Ministry, which is under the purview of Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, who is from Bersatu.
Another supreme council member, Datuk Mohd Razlan Muhamad Rafii, said Umno had complied with the party’s constitution as well as the rules set out by the ROS.
“In the party’s view, there is no reason for the ROS to delay the EGM (extraordinary general meeting) decision,” he said.
On May 15, Umno held an EGM and unanimously passed a resolution to make several amendments to its party constitution, among which was to allow the party polls to be held within six months after the conclusion of the next general election.
Mohd Razlan also noted that MCA was able to get approval when it faced a similar problem.
“If the ROS does not make a decision and if the decision does not favour us, we have other avenues to bring this to the next level. We might take the ROS to court,” he added.
Razlan also did not rule out the possibility of a political ploy in the delay of Umno’s application.
“I won’t rule it out because we have seen decisions made by the ROS which ended up in court such as that of Muda, where they won and the ROS had to comply with the court’s decision,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ilham Centre executive director Hisomuddin Bakar claimed politics has come into play, which makes the decision-making by the ROS difficult.
“The ROS should have got back to Umno as soon as the amendment was made in May without having to wait until July and forcing the Prime Minister to respond to the matter,” he said.
The political commentator said pressure would also be on Ismail Sabri as the rejection of the party’s amendments would have a direct implication on him.
“It puts him in a tough spot where he needs to choose to defend his party or bow to the decision of the Bersatu minister,” said Hisomuddin.
Several attempts by The Star to get comments from the ROS have been unsuccessful.
