YOURSAY | Should Umno be deregistered on a technicality?

YOURSAY | ‘The home minister has done nothing wrong in exercising his discretion.’

Saifuddin’s decision on Umno polls ‘suspicious’, complainant claims

Saifuddin exempts Umno from deregistration

Man on the Silver Mountain: Not an expert on this matter but, by the looks of it, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had not done anything wrong. He followed the authority vested in him as the Minister in charge of the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

That is the most important thing, the most important criteria to judge his action by. Other than that, it will be subjective. From the perspective of the Umno constitution, the no-contest resolution was passed accordingly except for the technicality.

The question would be, would the party be deregistered based on a technicality? That was probably what the home minister had to ponder, and he decided no. It is probably in a situation like this that the home minister is given the discretion to make a decision, the reason why Section 70 of the Societies Act exists.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Section 70 of the Societies Act 1966 is a saving provision where the minister can exempt a political party from deregistration for a breach of the provisions of the act. In the case of Umno, the ROS must have found a breach of section 13(1)(c)(iv) of the act but the minister exercised his discretion because the de-registration of Umno would not be in the public interest.

We have seen what happened to Umno in 1987 when it was deregistered. Similarly, DAP, PKR, and MIC have had issues with ROS in recent years but no deregistration ensued. As a matter of public policy, the ROS does not like to deregister political parties because it will cause public anger, disquiet, and instability. Imagine the consequences in Parliament if the deregistration was allowed.

Hmmmmmmmm: If enough people think that rule should not be there, then they should lobby the government to remove it. They should not blame the home minister for using it.

Have you guys forgotten already how an ex-speaker often ‘abused’ his discretion when ruling on Parliamentary matters? We complained, but what could we do about it?

Let Perikatan Nasional (PN) complain about it for a change. I say, make it so blatant that even PN cannot stomach it that they want the obnoxious laws to be removed.

Nuyiko: This is a bad decision. It will strengthen the perception that Umno president and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is a bad guy while former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Hishammuddin Hussein, and Khairy Jamaluddin are the good guys.

Of course, perception is not reality, but the least you can do is weaken that perception by not applying for an exemption in this case. Let ROS do their job, if they find it contravenes Umno party rule, so be it.

You don’t have to use your minister’s power to apply for exemption because it will create a bad perception and precedent. If you can save Zahid from being challenged in the Umno polls, people will also assume that you will interfere in his court cases too.

magnanimous46: ‘Act335.70 - This section allows the home minister to exempt compliance with any section of the Societies Act.’

For obvious reasons, it is not that I am objecting to the exemption invoked by Saifuddin but what good is the Societies Act if the home minister can overrule any of it? In that case, why have an ROS? No wonder any violation, especially by political parties among squabbling members referred to the ROS, takes aeons to get a response.

Apparently, the complaint is shoved to the bottom of the pile pending ‘orders from above’. That is the standard response of the lower-down minions in the civil and uniformed service.

Does this also mean Saifuddin intervened because the ROS had ruled against the decision to prevent a contest for the top two posts taken at the Umno general assembly?

Why is Saifuddin disclosing what he did, which would only add fuel to the raging fire in Umno that would only destabilise the federal government? Isn’t it setting his roof on fire? And is this also what PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang meant when he recently predicted ‘leaking roofs and crumbling walls’ in the government?

Cogito Ergo Sum: This amounts to dictatorship if rules and regulations meant to safeguard the democratic process can be waived by executive action. Is the federal government’s tenure so fragile that it needs an undemocratic act to preserve its life?

The Federal Court may rule the minister’s action as ultra vires the Constitution and the Society’s Act. This administration which came on a wave of reforms may look very silly and foolish if it goes for arbitration.

Salvage Malaysia: The home minister made a grave error in making this exemption. For a government that keeps espousing transparency, fairness, and rule of law, such action is blatant interference in wrongful acts committed in the party.

The minister is seen as selectively condoning the wrongful act. Many people are slowly losing faith in Anwar’s government and this incident doesn’t augur well at all.

Tyrion Lannister: The million-dollar question is who created these laws which Umno member Aizat Fikri found to be biased. Didn’t his party create this law that he is protesting? He can’t be pretending he was born when this biased law which gave too much power to the home minister was passed in Parliament.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.