Pro-M blasts higher education minister, media
Published: Jan 30, 2010 9:15 AM | Updated: Jan 30, 2010 9:20 AM
Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin and a number of media organisations were today blasted for their allegedly negative portrayal of Universiti Malaya’s Pro-Mahasiswa (Pro-M) student group in this week’s hotly contested campus elections.
Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin and a number of media organisations were today blasted for their allegedly negative portrayal of Universiti Malaya’s Pro-Mahasiswa (Pro-M) student group in this week’s hotly contested campus elections.
Khaled in his remarks yesterday suggested the students were sore losers after their defeat at the hands of UM’s Pro-Aspirasi (pro-establishment) group, which is said to be favoured by the university administration.
The minister accused the student group of not respecting the election results.
However, UM’s Pro-M chapter chairperson Mohd Shafie Hashim said in a statement today that his student faction had lost several years in a row, but this did not discourage the group from continuing to contest the campus polls.
“We in Pro-M have shed many tears after our losses previously. But this has not broken our spirit,” said the student leader.
“Why should we seek to win in a system that blatantly oppresses students?” he added, citing the unresolved questions over the integrity of the e-voting system and the allegedly non-level playing field that Pro-M candidates face in campus elections.
“It is because of such injustices that Pro-M protested until we were able to get the UM vice-chancellor (Ghauth Jasmon, left) to suspend the (poll) results,” said Mohd Shafie.
Other than the moratorium on the election results and the suspension on the formation of the new leadership in the Student Representative Council, Gauth had yesterday agreed to the appointment of an IT consultant by the Pro-M group to test the e-voting system.
If it is proven that elements of fraud or abuse exist, a re-election would be carried out, said Gauth, after a group of angry students occupied the campus administration building.
He also promised to investigate allegations that deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs (HEP) Azarae Idris had misused university funds to quarantine certain students at a hotel - purportedly for a university-sponsored workshop - the night before nomination.
Media organisations slammed
Mohd Shafie also took aim at media organisations that had gone ahead to announce the ‘defeat’ of UM’s Pro-M students despite that no one had claimed victory on Thursday night.
Describing the media reports as motivated by the desire to paint a positive picture of “Umno’s campus proxies”, Mohd Shafie called on the news organisations - in particular mStar Online and Kosmo - to retract their reports.
According to Thursday's election results, the Pro-Aspirasi group won 21 seats, four more than the anti-establishment pro-M group.
The two student factions have been fighting a tooth-and-nail battle for the control of the Students Representative Council over the past few years with pro-M group winning by one seat in 2008.
Khaled in his remarks yesterday suggested the students were sore losers after their defeat at the hands of UM’s Pro-Aspirasi (pro-establishment) group, which is said to be favoured by the university administration.
The minister accused the student group of not respecting the election results.However, UM’s Pro-M chapter chairperson Mohd Shafie Hashim said in a statement today that his student faction had lost several years in a row, but this did not discourage the group from continuing to contest the campus polls.
“We in Pro-M have shed many tears after our losses previously. But this has not broken our spirit,” said the student leader.
“Why should we seek to win in a system that blatantly oppresses students?” he added, citing the unresolved questions over the integrity of the e-voting system and the allegedly non-level playing field that Pro-M candidates face in campus elections.
“It is because of such injustices that Pro-M protested until we were able to get the UM vice-chancellor (Ghauth Jasmon, left) to suspend the (poll) results,” said Mohd Shafie. Other than the moratorium on the election results and the suspension on the formation of the new leadership in the Student Representative Council, Gauth had yesterday agreed to the appointment of an IT consultant by the Pro-M group to test the e-voting system.
If it is proven that elements of fraud or abuse exist, a re-election would be carried out, said Gauth, after a group of angry students occupied the campus administration building.
He also promised to investigate allegations that deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs (HEP) Azarae Idris had misused university funds to quarantine certain students at a hotel - purportedly for a university-sponsored workshop - the night before nomination.
Media organisations slammed
Mohd Shafie also took aim at media organisations that had gone ahead to announce the ‘defeat’ of UM’s Pro-M students despite that no one had claimed victory on Thursday night.
Describing the media reports as motivated by the desire to paint a positive picture of “Umno’s campus proxies”, Mohd Shafie called on the news organisations - in particular mStar Online and Kosmo - to retract their reports. According to Thursday's election results, the Pro-Aspirasi group won 21 seats, four more than the anti-establishment pro-M group.
The two student factions have been fighting a tooth-and-nail battle for the control of the Students Representative Council over the past few years with pro-M group winning by one seat in 2008.
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