Saifuddin uses ministerial power to exempt Umno from Societies Act

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has used his ministerial power to exempt Umno from a clause in the Societies Act, allowing the party to forego elections for its top two posts.

This followed a call by Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob on party chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to make public a letter from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) reportedly approving the no-contest motion passed at the recent general assembly.

In a statement, Saifuddin said his ministry received Umno's no-contest motion from secretary-general Ahmad Maslan on March 3.

He said based on the powers vested in him under Section 70 of the Societies Act, he was exempting the party from abiding by a provision under Section 13 of the same act.

The provision states that the RoS may cancel the registration of any society if it is found to have contravened any provision of the Societies Act.

But Section 70 of the same act gives the home minister the power to exempt any society from these provisions.

There had been conflicting media reports on the contents of a letter from the RoS, which reportedly approved Umno's no-contest motion.

This prompted Ismail to urge Zahid to make the letter public.

"One says RoS rejected it, but the next day, another says it was approved. People are confused," he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.