UMNO to amend party constitution tomorrow to allow postponement of polls

KUALA LUMPUR: UMNO is set for another turning point in its 76-year history by amending its constitution tomorrow to allow party elections to be held six months after the 15th General Election (GE15).

This will take place at a Special UMNO General Meeting at the World Trade Centre's Dewan Merdeka here, with some 2,000 party delegates expected to be in attendance.

UMNO executive secretary Datuk Mohd Sumali Reduan said the meeting will kick off at 2 pm with a speech by party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said this will be followed by the tabling of a motion to amend the party's constitution by party vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin before the matter is left to be decided by the delegates, adding that there will be no debates.

"Once after that, the party president will hoist the UMNO flag and cut 'pulut kuning' with the other party leaders at Dewan Tun Razak in conjunction with UMNO's 76th anniversary," he told Bernama here today.

UMNO, prior to this, postponed its party elections for 18 months after the 2018/2021 term ended on June 30 last year, which meant that party elections for the 2021/2023 term must be held before December 30 this year.

However, the UMNO general assembly that was held in March agreed to postpone party polls up to six months after GE15 to allow the party to focus on general election matters.

UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan at the general assembly had also expressed his concern about splits happening in the party if party elections were to be held before GE15.

On Tuesday, UMNO secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan was quoted as saying that the party will submit the list of proposed dates for its party elections to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) on May 17.

-- BERNAMA