RoS letter in line with laws, Isham tells KJ

SHAH ALAM - Umno information chief Isham Jalil has criticised former youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin's statement regarding a viral letter issued by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

Isham said he has not read the letter himself and the contents were unclear with several interpretations.

"In my opinion the letter stated the exception (from complying with Section 13 (1) (iv) of Act 832) is because if the RoS letter is true then several things could be disputed. The first being why the RoS said the matter (motion) was out of order.

"If he (Khairy) knew about the laws, there is a legal document in Malaysia called the Malaysian Constitution in which Article 10 states the freedom of association.

"This meant each organisation and association is independent and has the right to determine its own decisions and directions," he said in a video uploaded on his Facebook on Wednesday.

Khairy on Tuesday said Umno must undertake corrective measures by opening contests for the top two positions in the party.

The former Health Minister said the Umno constitution itself has set terms including the posts of president and deputy president to be contested once every three years.

The Home Ministry on Tuesday provided an exemption from Section 13(1)(c)(iv) of the Societies Act 1966 (Act 832) to Umno relating to the additional no-contest motion for the presidency and deputy presidency during this year’s party elections.

The additional no-contest motion for the top two positions was suggested by Negeri Sembilan representative Mohd Shukri Samsudin.

Isham said if Umno brought a no-contest motion for the top two positions they can bring the motion to members to decide whether the decision was valid or not.

"What can decide this matter is the Umno Annual General Meeting (AGM), yes the Supreme Council can make a decision but what is much higher is the AGM as there are more representatives.

"When we bring it to the AGM, we have all the video (proof), the representatives list has been sent to the RoS and 90 per cent of them have stood.

"The permanent chairman has asked who disagreed, there are some who disagreed, but it was only a portion of members, I think it did not even reach 30 among 30,000 individuals in the hall," he said.