Kuala Lumpur: Umno has a legal option if the Registrar of Societies (RoS) refuses its application to amend its constitution to delay party polls after the general election, two of its supreme council members said.
Datuk Puad Zarkashi said he will propose that the party seek a judicial review if the societies regulator rejects Umno's application, The Star reported today.
"I will suggest to Umno HQ to apply for a judicial review after the RoS sends a letter of rejection in black and white to Umno," he was quoted saying.
The Johor state assembly speaker added that there is court precedent in its favour, citing Opposition party Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), which sued the ROS for repeatedly rejecting its registration application and won.
"But I believe the RoS will play a delaying tactic to avoid a judicial review,” Puad told the daily.
Another Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii echoed Puad.
"If the RoS does not make a decision and if the decision does not favour us, we have other avenues to bring this to the next level. We might take the ROS to court,” he was quoted as saying.
Razlan reportedly suggested that the societies regulator was delaying Umno's application, noting that the agency is under the purview of the Home Ministry, whose minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin is from Bersatu.
"I won’t rule it out because we have seen decisions made by the ROS which ended up in court such as that of Muda, where they won and the ROS had to comply with the court’s decision,” he was quoted as saying.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is also Umno vice-president, has said that his party hopes to hear from the RoS before 60-day decision period ends on July 16.
At an extraordinary general meeting on May 15, Umno delegates unanimously approved its leaders decision to amend the party constitution that will allow it to hold its internal election after the general election.
Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has said that such a move would help the party avoid the division that often followed party elections and would help it focus on winning federal power.
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