Muda suspends its Perak chief Mutalib for disobeying party rules

PETALING JAYA: Muda has removed its Perak chief Mutalib Uthman (pic) from his position and suspended his party membership for three years for disobeying instructions and party disciplinary rules.

Muda secretary-general Amir Abdul Hadi in a statement said the matter was decided during the Muda central executive committee conference on Dec 17, 2022.

Amir said Mutalib had gone behind the party's back and put up a poster claiming that he was Muda's 15th General Election (GE15) candidate for the Tapah parliamentary seat without permission.

Mutalib later admitted that he had uploaded the election poster on the Perak Muda's social media on Oct 30, 2022.

“This action was found to be in violation of Muda regulations and in violation of Clause 5: Responsibilities of Members in the Muda constitution, particularly Clause 5.1 (d) Obey and respect party decisions and 5.1 (f) preserve the good name and dignity of the party,” he said.

Amir said Mutalib had also asked for access to Muda Perak’s social media account and changed the password, which showed his intention to sabotage the party.

He had also supposed to have initially refused to remove the poster and demanded that he be promised the Tapah seat.

However, he later toed the party line by removing the poster and apologised.

Despite his indiscipline, Mutalib was eventually fielded in as a candidate to contest the Masjid Tanah state seat in Melaka, where he lost in a four-cornered fight after gaining 7,445 votes.

The state seat was won by Perikatan Nasional’s Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who won with a 4,411-vote majority.

Amir said that Mutalib was only allowed to contest the Masjid Tanah seat because of the short time left between him putting up the poster and Nomination Day.

He added said Mutalib’s self-defence statement that he has been with the party since day one and that he helped build this party so that he can contest the election was unacceptable.

"Mutalib has been informed of the decision verbally on the day it was decided," he said.

He added that the appeal decision would be decided after they received his appeal.

Meanwhile, the party also announced that they had received two resignations, namely from party Pahang chief Malani Manimaharan and Penang chief Jazz Tan, on grounds of health and commitment issues.

Amir said Muda has temporarily appointed Devadas Silvaraju to head the Perak chapter, while Tineshvar Boontinathan will run the party in Penang.

The party’s Pahang chief would be announced as soon as possible, said Amir.