Although there is only a rumour that a top PKR leader may be appointed chancellor of the Industrial University of Selangor (Unisel), Unisel students are taking no chances.

NONEA five-member delegation from Unisel's Pro-Mahasiswa student movement led by its president Muhammad Nasir Abu Bakar handed a  memorandum to a representative from Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's office at 2.56pm today.

Tuan Nazuli Tuan Ismail, the MB's media officer, received the students' memorandum at the SUK lobby.

The students are said to have collected 500 signatures to accompany the memorandum that proposes that historian Khoo Kay Kim be appointed Unisel chancellor.

This is based on his “excellent” academic track-record and his contributions to the nation’s development, as he was among those who had drafted the Rukun Negara.

Muhammad Nasir said the group believes the university should be free of political interference, whether this comes from the BN or Pakatan Rakyat.

The students feel strongly that NONEan academician should be at the head of the university administration, Muhammad Nasir told a press conference in Shah Alam earlier today.

Talk has it that either PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail or former deputy president Syed Husin Ali may be appointed chancellor next month, to replace Rosmah Mansor, the wife of  Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Asked why only 500 of the 13,000 students had signed the petition, the group’s political secretary Muhammad Shahimi Ariffin claimed that many were reluctant to show their support.

"We wanted the student organisation to be recognised as the third force that is free to express our idealism and views, and which is empowered to contribute towards the development of the university development,” he said.

Khalid receptive

Commenting on the matter, Khalid Ibrahim (below) said that he has "no problem" with appointing someone who had no political ties.

save tian chua dinner 200610 khalid ibrahim"There was never mention of anyone's name for vice counsellor, not even (PKR President) Dr Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail)," he said.

Syed Husin's name however did crop up as a possible candidate during the PKR congress last November when delegates made lighthearted suggestions of the Unisel post as the next step for the retiring deputy president.

Syed Husin however did not seem to take the calls seriously.

Meanwhile Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia political secretary Ahmad Syukri Abdul Razak noted that Rosmah is said to be involved in certain scandals, and that this could also affect the university's image.

The Selangor government, then under BN, had founded the university in 2000.

Additional reporting by Aidila Razak and Hazlan Zakaria.