PETALING JAYA: Umno’s application to amend its constitution to allow for the postponement of its polls has been approved by the Registrar of Societies (ROS), announced the party’s secretary-general.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said according to the letter he received from the ROS yesterday evening, elections for all levels in the party could not exceed a period of six months after the 15th General Election.
“I am pleased to announce that the ROS has approved the application related to Umno’s constitution with a slight amendment. The approval is effective July 29, 2022,” he said in a statement.
To comply with the ROS directive, he said the Umno polls would be held no later than six months after GE15.
“On behalf of Umno, I want to thank the ROS and all parties that were involved in approving the amendment to Umno’s constitution,” he said.
Earlier yesterday, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the party had sent appeals to the ROS for a decision to be made before tomorrow so that the party could prepare for internal elections if the application for postponement was rejected.
Umno had postponed its party polls for 18 months after the 2018/2021 term ended on June 30 last year, which meant the polls for the 2021/2023 term are to be held before Dec 30 this year.
On May 15, Umno held an extraordinary general meeting where it passed a proposal to amend its constitution to defer party polls by up to six months after the general election.
Two days later, Umno wrote to the ROS seeking the postponement.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, an Umno vice-president, had said that the party was hoping to hear from the ROS by July 16, which was within 60 days of the party submitting the proposal for the amendment.
On Thursday, the top five leaders in Umno decided to upload photographs of themselves on social media after a meeting to allay talk that the party was split.
The photo of Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with Mohamad and vice-presidents Ismail Sabri, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid went viral.
Mohamad said yesterday that if the ROS had not agreed to the party’s appeal, Umno would have had to hold its elections by Dec 30.
“The ROS is not compelled to reply to us within the given period because there is no such provision in its Act. We only asked for a quick reply because if our request was rejected, we would have had to start preparing for the party elections,” he told reporters.
Mohamad said Umno had no intention to “pressure” the ROS.
“We needed time to do so (hold the party polls) as Umno is a big party with more than 22,000 branches. We would have had to hold our meetings and party elections at all levels by December,” he added.
