No-contest motion in line with general assembly rules, says Ahmad Maslan

PETALING JAYA: Legal advice was sought and the motion of no-contest for the top two posts in the upcoming Umno party polls is in line with the party’s general assembly rules, says Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

The party secretary-general said Article 20 of the Umno constitution allowed the motion of no-contest for the top two posts to be proposed.

According to Ahmad, legal advice was sought after the motion was proposed by a delegate from Negri Sembilan and was supported by a delegate from Terengganu at the Umno general assembly on Friday (Jan 13).

“They (lawyers) stated that the motion adhered to Article 20 of Umno’s general assembly rules,” said Ahmad in a statement on Twitter on Sunday (Jan 15).

The Umno general assembly passed a motion on Saturday (Jan 14) for the posts of president and deputy president not to be contested in the coming party polls.

This means that Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, will remain as the Umno president and deputy president, respectively, for another term.

Ahmad also said it was untrue that there were “phantom” delegates present to push the no-contest motion during the general assembly.

“The wild allegations are 100% untrue,” said Ahmad, who was referring to a video by Khairy Jamaluddin on TikTok on Saturday. “Regarding the viral video, party Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki verified that the men referred to were ‘Squad Sabil’ officers who were tasked with maintaining harmony inside and outside Dewan Merdeka.

“The location of the video is in Bilik Terengganu, which is a room designated to the squad’s secretariat,” said Ahmad.

Khairy had claimed there was a conspiracy by some delegates to “bulldoze” the motion in the Umno general assembly on Saturday.

The former Umno youth chief claimed that some of the tags of delegates at Dewan Merdeka had been removed to replace them with “imported” delegates to ensure the motion will be approved.

Umno is due to hold party polls before May 19 this year.