Najib dead set against lifting ban on Ali, appeal to be heard end of week

Najib dead set against lifting ban on Ali, appeal to be heard end of week
Thursday, 19 March 2009

Incoming Umno president Najib Abdul Razak has made it clear he is against lifting the ban on Mohd Ali Rustam to contest for the party’s deputy presidency at polls due to begin on Mar 25.

The salvo fired by the deputy premier, accused of plotting the purge against leaders aligned to outgoing president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is set to further antagonise party members.

The Malacca chief minister is one of Umno’s most popular leaders. A rank-and-file party veteran, he is a known Abdullah loyalist and the move to lock him out of a three-cornered race for the No 2 post has outraged Umno members across the country.

However, an unrepentant Najib said this morning: “We must make a firm stand. If not all sorts of activities will take place in a bid to grab positions in the party. We cannot compromise and have to place our trust in the board. It is not a fun job and we cannot accuse the board of having an agenda or hidden motive.”

Najib himself has already won the party presidency uncontested. By convention, the Umno president becomes the prime minister, but there have been growing calls from Malaysians, including Umno members, to the King not to appoint him premier in view of his extensive unpopularity and scandal-plagued record. There is also no constitutional obligation for the King to make the Umno president prime minister.

A ruthless purge

Ali was the odds-on favourite to win the deputy presidency and his ban will pave the way for Muhyiddin Yassin, the Trade Minister favoured by Najib to become the No 2.

According to BN media, an Umno appeals panel headed by Ahmad Zuki Kamaluddin, will hear Ali Rustam’s case by the end of this week, but it is unlikely to reverse the disciplinary board’s decision to bar him from contesting the deputy presidency.

“The board has received the appeal letter from Ali and the panel will study his case. Its decision would then be forwarded to the supreme council for a final verdict. However, in previous cases, the supreme council has always accepted the decision made by the appeals panel and they do not interfere or influence the board,” an unnamed source as quoted saying in the NST.

The panel will also include Kamarul Ariffin, Sabaruddin Chik, Osman Aroff, Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas and Alias Ali, the newspaper said.

Ali Rustam, who has protested his innocence, was found guilty of being involved in vote-buying earlier this week.

Umno veteran and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has warned that Ali had the right to prevent the party election from taking place.

“Mohd Ali can appeal to the Registrar of Societies to put a stop to the Elections if he is unlawfully deprived of his eligibility for office. At the very least, his appeal against his punishment needs to be heard before the party elections commence next week,” said Razaliegh in his latest blog posting.

“I do not see how they may bar him from contesting so long as he remains a member of the Party. The Societies Act defines the ‘eligibility to hold office in the committee or governing body of the society,’ along with the right to vote, as a constitutional right of every member. “