The rejection letter signed by the Home Minister sighted by the media was dated August 11 and was merely one-paragraph long.
The Malaysia United Democratic Alliance’s (Muda) application to be registered as a political party has been rejected for the second time.
Muda vice-president Lim Wei Jiet said the rejection by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) was received via email without any reasons provided.
He said Muda regretted the Home Ministry’s decision as they had given their full cooperation to discuss constitutional issues raised with the RoS.
“All documents regarding the registration had also been amended after discussions with the RoS. We are also disappointed over the unreasonable delay in reaching this decision.
“We filed our registration almost a year ago (Sept 17) and our appeal was made six months ago (Feb 4) after it was rejected by the ministry,” he said in a statement.
Lim questioned the timing of the decision by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, which was delivered by email right before today’s hearing of Muda’s judicial review to challenge the home minister and RoS’s failure to decide on their appeal.
Today was initially scheduled to be an online hearing before High Court judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin.
“The High Court’s hearing of former minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s Muda lawsuit against the home minister and the RoS was abruptly postponed, after the government informed of new developments just minutes before the scheduled 12pm court hearing.
“The court then adjourned the hearing to Aug 18 due to the latest development. The timing clearly indicates that the government wants to delay our registration as long as possible. Muda will challenge this decision in court, and we hope we get justice,” said Lim.
The letter signed by Hamzah sighted by the media was merely one-paragraph long with a header.
It read: “With the powers vested in me as the Home Minister under Section 18 of the Societies Act 1966 (Act 355), the request for (Malaysian United Democratic Alliance) Muda to be registered is not approved.”
The letter was dated August 11, 2021.
Muda’s lawsuit was filed through a judicial review application on April 26 by its 13 co-founders, including Syed Saddiq and Lim, with the others being Amir Hariri Abd Hadi, Dr Mathen Muniasupran, Teo Lee Ken, Dr Thanussha Francis Xavier, Luqman Long, Mohd Fakhruradzi Tajuddin, Mohd Saufy Nizar Abdul Rahman, Nur Afiqah M Zulkifli, Shahrizal Denci, Siti Rahayu Baharin, and Tarmizi Anuwar.
In this lawsuit, Muda is seeking for a court order to compel the home minister to make a decision ― within seven days of the court order ― on Muda’s appeal against the RoS’s January 6 decision to reject Muda’s registration as a political party.
In the lawsuit, Muda is also seeking for the court to order for compensation to be paid by the home minister and RoS in the form of exemplary damages and aggravated damages.
This is Muda’s second lawsuit against the home minister and RoS in its long journey since September 2020 to seek for official recognition by the Malaysian government as a political party.