KUALA LUMPUR: Muhamad Mizan Adli Mohd Nor should remain as PKR Youth permanent chairman.
PKR Youth deputy chief Muhammad Hilman Idham said this was because the party constitution and PKR Youth permanent ruling did not provide any power to the Youth wing’s central committee to sack Mizan or his deputy, Mohd Ramly Ahmad.
He said this was because the wing’s permanent chairman and deputy chairman were part of the National Congress, the highest authority in the party as per Provision 10.3.1 of the permanent ruling of the PKR Youth movement and Clause 17 of the party’s constitution.
He said the letter from PKR Youth national secretary Ahmad Syukri Che Ab Razab sacking the duo had sought to hide this by only citing Provisions 5.1 and 5.3 and disregarding Provision 5.2 of the wing’s permanent ruling.
“This is because Provision 5.2 provides that, ‘All office holders in AMK shall remain members of the Youth wing even though they have exceeded the age limit until their term of service expires or until they are replaced by new office holders’.”
AMK refers to Angkatan Muda Keadilan, PKR’s Youth wing.
Hilman said with only 270 eligible delegates voting in the 2018 National Congress, this showed that PKR Youth’s top leadership was weak and disorganised.
“This is because Provision 10.3.3 of the permanent ruling had placed 7 PKR Youth delegates for each branch to cast their votes.”
He said if only 270 delegates were eligible to vote, it meant that the congress was attended only by less than 38 branches out of 178 branches nationwide.
“As all decisions by the party’s election committee (JPP) are endorsed by the 2018 National Congress, the integrity and authority of JPP needs to be safeguarded.”
Hilman urged the party’s leadership to take swift action to address the sacking of the duo as it went against the provisions of PKR’s constitution and PKR Youth’s permanent ruling.
In a letter dated Nov 27, Syukri cited several reasons for the dismissal of Mizan and Ramly.
Syukri said their termination from their positions was on the basis that they were above age 35, thus breaching the age of eligibility for their posts.
He claimed that Mizan and Ramly received more votes than the number of delegates present at last year’s PKR Youth National Convention, which suggested that there was a discrepancy.
Syukri, in a separate statement, said Hilman did not understand Provision 5.2 of the PKR Youth permanent ruling.
He said Hilman’s argument that the permanent chairman and deputy chairman posts should be maintained until the end of tenure even after the office bearers had passed the age limit or until they were replaced did not hold water.
“Hilman failed to understand the Provisions 5.1 and 5.3. Provision 5.1 states that all party members below age 35 on Dec 31 are members of PKR Youth. When Mizan was elected on Nov 16 last year, he was already 35, while Ramly was 38.”
He said Provision 5.3 states that only PKR Youth members could hold posts in PKR Youth.
“Therefore, we cannot use Provision 5.2 in this matter as Mizan and Ramly had automatically lost their eligibility to hold any posts in PKR Youth.”
Syukri said Provision 5.2 was only applicable if a member was appointed to a post below age 35.
“If they need to complete their term of three years, say for those elected at age 34, this provision is valid for them.”
He said Hilman was trying to take attention away from the discrepancy in the number of votes that went to the permanent chairman and deputy permanent chairman positions, which exceeded the number delegates eligible to vote.
“What cheap sentiment is Hilman seeking to play when he did not even question the discrepancy in votes?”
He said Hilman might have overlooked some matters as he had attended PKR Youth leadership meetings only once.
Syukri called all PKR Youth members to move forward and continue to strengthen the party to realise it reformasi agenda.