SHAH ALAM, March 8 — The Societies Act 1966 (Act 832) is a law approved by Parliament, and if there are parties who want it amended, the matter should be brought up in Parliament, said UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“If there is disagreement, you have to look back at the Societies Act 1966. It is an act that was approved by Parliament. Hence, we hand it back to Parliament if we want the law to be amended,” he told the media here tonight.
Ahmad Zahid said this to comment on the video clip of former Rembau Member of Parliament, Khairy Jamaluddin, who was not satisfied with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s decision to grant exemption to UMNO in accordance with Section 70 of the Societies Act 1966 (Act 832), regarding the party’s election.
On UMNO’s next direction, Ahmad Zahid expects that the party’s new leadership line-up, which will be elected, will work with him to translate the implementation of the party’s new direction.
Ahmad Zahid said that the direction, which has 21 steps, will be announced and realised after the party’s election on March 18.
“We hope that UMNO has no more thorns in its flesh. Hopefully, everyone will stand united as one team,” he said.
Regarding cooperation with other parties to face the state elections, the Deputy Prime Minister said that UMNO will hold internal discussions for three days, starting tonight, in each state involved.
The six states that will hold state elections this year are Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor, Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah.
