Umno amends party constitution

KUALA LUMPUR - Umno today amended its constitution to allow party elections to be held six months after the 15th General Election (GE15).

The constitutional amendment was made at the Umno Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at Dewan Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur World Trade Center (WTCKL), followed by a double celebration for Umno's anniversary and Hari Raya AidilFitri.

The constitutional amendment was approved after gaining the support of 2,586 delegates who were present at the meeting.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is also the party's vice-president, was present in the meeting, despite just coming back from his work visit to Washington, United States, to attend the Asean-United States special summit.

Also present were Umno Permanent Chairman Tan Sri Badruddin Amiruldin, Umno President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Umno Vice President Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalied Nordin, Wanita Chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad, Pemuda Chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Datuk Dusuki, Puteri Chief Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan,Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, Treasurer Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Supreme Council Members and the delegates.

Earlier, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the EGM was held to ratify the proposed constitutional amendment so that the party's election would be held within six months after the general election (GE) was held.

"In line with Clause 30 of the party's constitution, the motion accepted at the Umno general assembly in March must be ratified in the special assembly.

"The relevant motion requests that the party constitution be amended in reference to the election clause within a reasonable time frame, indicating that the party election must be held within six months of each GE.

"This is to ensure that the party's complete strength can be mobilised to face the GE without fear of division," he explained.

After the 2018/2021 term concluded on June 30 last year, Umno postponed party elections at the branch, division, and Supreme Council levels for 18 months.

Since the 18-month timeframe ends at the end of this year, Umno would have had to schedule elections before December 30 this year.