MTUC CHIEF SACKED BY RIVAL GROUP, CRIES FOUL

PETALING JAYA: The two-year leadership tussle in the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has taken yet another twist.

This time, a group led by Kamarul Baharin Mansor, whose position as secretary-general remains in dispute, held a general council meeting during which a decision was made to sack its president Effendy Abdul Ghani.

In the Jan 19 meeting, which Effendy claims is illegal, vice-president Dauzkaply Nor Ghazali was also made acting president.

In his first move as acting president, Dauzkaply issued a statement today to announce that Effendy had been sacked and therefore would no longer represent MTUC at any meeting, and that any statement attributed to him would no longer reflect the views of the congress.

No reason has been given for the sacking.

In an immediate response Effendy claimed the action by the group “is an act of contempt” against a court order obtained by a third party last year restricting the MTUC to only day-to-day operations, thus preventing it from making policy decisions.

When contacted, Effendy said the action by Kamarul and his group was a blatant violation of the court order issued in August 2023 by the High Court in Shah Alam, declaring the MTUC’s triennial delegates’ conference a year earlier null and void for non-compliance with the provisions of its constitution.

“Kamarul has also gone against a declaration by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) that his position as secretary-general is not valid after it was found that he did not belong to any workers’ union as required to stand for election as an office bearer in MTUC.

“He should not be calling for any committee or general council meetings as ordered by the courts as he is no longer the secretary-general,” Effendy told FMT.

The suit to declare the elections null and void was filed by a group led by its former president Halim Mansor.

Judicial commissioner Choong Yeow Choy ruled that all decisions made at the conference on July 2 and 3 last year were null and void and that the MTUC headquarters would only manage its day-to-day operations and refrain from making any policy decisions.

As a result, the workers have not been represented in statutory bodies like the EPF over the last two years.

In response to the court decision, the RoS advised MTUC to call for fresh elections.

However, a civil suit filed by Effendy to declare Kamarul as no longer the secretary-general and Kamarul’s countersuit had stalled the move for fresh elections.

Effendy withdrew the suit after the leaders reached an agreement with Halim’s group for a consent judgment to resolve the impasse. A decision on this has been fixed for Feb 25.

FMT has reached out to Kamarul for comment.

2025-02-04T06:58:13Z