Can’t contest suspension outside party, Umno tells Muhyiddin

(Malay Mail Online) – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has no legal recourse to challenge his suspension as Umno deputy president except through internal channels, the party’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor said today.

He reminded the Pagoh Umno division chief that the law clearly states the court cannot hear disputes within political parties.

“According to Section 18C of the Societies Act 1966, dispute or decisions within a party cannot be challenged in court. While Section 16 of the Societies Act touches on disputes among members. It does not cover the case of YB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s suspension from his post.

“The proper channel that should be used is only internally within the party,” Tengku Adnan said in a statement in an immediate response to Muhyiddin’s announcement that he plans to enlist the aid of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) on his suspension, which he claimed to be improperly conducted.

He added that the party’s supreme council had kept to the confines of the Umno constitution when it made its unanimous decision against Muhyiddin last Friday.

“The suspension of YB Tan Sri Muhyiddin from his post was done under the existing powers and residual powers of the supreme council under clause 10.15 [of the Umno Constitution]. It was done for the sake of the party to function smoothly.”

In a news conference this morning, Muhyiddin said he will send a letter to the RoS to determine if the Umno supreme council had overstepped its constitutional powers when it abruptly suspended him as deputy president last Friday.

The Umno supreme council on Friday voted unanimously to suspend Muhyiddin as deputy president following his continued open criticism of party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The council said Muhyiddin had failed to live up to his constitutional duty to aid the president.

In a lengthy Facebook post on Saturday, Muhyiddin said he would not be appealing his suspension, but will instead continue pushing for an overhaul of the country’s public institutions.

The Pagoh MP was dropped from the federal Cabinet in a reshuffle last year, along with Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.