KUALA LUMPUR: FORMER law minister Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim said Section 18(C) of the Societies Act 1966, which gives a party free rein to manage its affairs, should be repealed to ensure party members get fair treatment when in a dispute.
He said this had been made evident following the controversy that arose after Umno sacked and suspended several of its leaders, with many questioning the legitimacy of the process.
However, Zaid said, the "unjust punishment" was allowed because loopholes in the Societies Act prevented the court from intervening in party affairs, thus hindering the democratic process.
"This is the source or mother of all problems (Section 18C of the Societies Act 1966).
"Parliament should not be given political carte blanche to interpret or manage the affairs of the party.
"The law should not have excluded the powers of the court to intervene.
"This is why leaders of political parties get sacked or suspended without proper process," he told the New Straits Times.
Last Friday, Umno sacked its former Youth chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, and Supreme Council member Tan Sri Noh Omar.
Former Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan, former Youth exco member Datuk Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahya, former Johor exco member and Tebrau Umno chief Datuk Maulizan Bujang and former Jempol member of parliament Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif were suspended for six years.
Zaid said another reason for the controversy was that the Umno constitution gave its Supreme Council broad authority to manage the party's affairs.
This, he said, included the authority to suspend or dismiss members.
According to clause 10.6 of the Umno constitution, among the responsibilities of Supreme Council members are deciding on a member's status (according to clause 5.7), and suspending or terminating a person's party membership.
"The constitutions of Umno and other political parties are all approved by the Registrar of Societies (RoS), so where the provisions are unreasonable or unfair to the members, you can blame the RoS for this," said Zaid.
He said none of the members who were punished had succeeded in bringing their cases to court.
Zaid said: "Where complaints to the RoS have the support of the home minister, then the threat of deregistration may compel the party to address the issues.
"Otherwise, taking the matter to the court itself is grounds to remove the member."