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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright January 2023
In UMNO, Zahid is a strong man that many members fear because he has shown that he does not hesitate to take action against his detractors in days leading to the last General Election.
Some who were seen as threats to him were removed or even sacked from the party. Others who have have served the party well as MPs and won seats for many terms were not selected as candidates because they were alleged to be working against the interest of the party. They later resigned to join rival parties. Some like Shahidan won by a landslide when he opted to join PAS.
But there are a few men left who are willing to stand up to the UMNO leader, take a chance in challenging him over principles of democracy and specific provisions in the party's constitution.
Recently, former UMNO Youth Chief and Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin praised a few party members brave enough to oppose a decision by the party to not hold a contest for its two top most posts.
He said, "Well done guys. There are some brave and sane people in Umno. I am confident in the credibility of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to review Rembau's proposal at the Umno general assembly."
Khairy praised Muhammad Aizat Fikri Mohd Nasir and Muhammad Fiqri Firdaus Muhammad Rom, Kuala Nerus and Seremban division members respectively for their bravery in filing a complaint with the Registrarof Societies. They filed the complaint over the additional motion passed at the party’s general assembly last weekend for the top two posts not to be contested in the upcoming party elections.
According to Malay Mail, Muhammad Aizat Fikri had claimed that the additional motion introduced at the last minute during recent AGM was invalid and in violation of the party constitution. In addition it violated the regulations of the party’s divisional and branch annual general meetings.
On the other hand, the above report stated that Muhammad Fiqri Firdaus held the view where any additional motion should first be brought up at the divisional and branch levels, and this has led to the dispute. "One reason why we have brought this matter to the regulatory body (RoS) is for it to scrutinise if there are any irregularities in the motion moved at the recent party assembly,” he said.
Many disgruntled voices in Umno are heard to accuse the party of violating its constitution at the general assembly but few came forward to act on their gripes.
Anyhow, on Jan 14, a majority of delegates present at the AGM went ahead to express support for that additional motion of no contest for the president and deputy president posts that has now become a bone of contention. Besides the above two individuals, Alor Setar division too has expressed a similar intent on filing a complaint with RoS soon after the last AGM.
Perhaps they found inspiration from the vice-president and former PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who at the end of the assembly, told the media that any party member could refer to the RoS to verify whether or not the decision was valid.
While Zaid and his deputy seems to welcome the consenting voices of those at the assembly who did not see any reason to question such a motion the few highly principled individuals are still willing to take a chance, risking their own skins to stand for what is right and not be cowed by the looming wrath of the party chiefs.
It's good of KJ to acknowledge their bravery in this difficult period of our history when principles are often cast to the wind in the interest of political expediency.
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