KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is upbeat that the party will receive a positive response from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to leave its top two positions uncontested in its upcoming internal election.
Umno had submitted its no-contest motion for the presidency and deputy presidency for consideration after its general assembly last month, but if it is not accepted, could put the country’s largest political party at risk of deregistration.
“We have 60 days for RoS to respond to us and I’m confident that Umno has followed the constitution based on the clause 9.3 and 9.4 that we have explained to RoS.
“PAU is the highest body in Umno and the decision has been made, hence the additional motion has been examined by our litigators and I’m optimistic that we will have a positive answer from RoS,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
PAU is the Malay acronym for the Umno general assembly.
Clause 9.3 of the Umno constitution states that the position of president and deputy president must be elected at the division meetings every three years.
Zahid previously said that Umno has met the RoS twice over the no-contest motion to explain why it would not be in possible breach of its own party constitution.
Asked about updates to the Umno election next month, Zahid said there have been more members who have expressed interest in contesting and expects more to throw their hats in the coming weeks.