Forty-eight hours after a memorandum calling for the abolishment of the University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) was sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a new memorandum demanding the opposite was passed to his deputy.

The student representative councils from 17 government universities, who proclaimed to be 'chosen via a democratic, fair and transparent election' submitted the memorandum to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak after the national students consultative meeting in Putrajaya this morning.

The group also called on the government to take action against the Malaysia Students Solidarity (SMM) movement which sent the earlier memorandum on the grounds that the UUCA stifled intellectual freedom.

"The student representatives unanimously support the enforcement of UUCA and the government accepts their demand to preserve the Act," he told a press conference later.

According to Universiti Malaya student representative council president Mohd Effendi Omar, the memorandum is a joint response to the SMM memorandum.

The political culture in local public universities is centred around what is commonly termed as the 'pro-establishment' and 'anti-establishment' groups.

During last September's campus elections, the 'pro-establishment' faction for the first time took control of all 17 universities amid allegations of irregularities and boycotts from their rival.

Some of the students involved in the boycott were later hauled up by their respective university authorities to face disciplinary action.

The 'anti-establishment' faction then launched a series of campaigns and demonstrations through SMM.

Apart from abolishing the UUCA, they also called for the sacking of Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh, the disciplinary charges be dropped against their peers and a fresh election be held.

Stern action

The memorandum submitted to Najib today urged the government to take stern action against SMM and to reject the demands raised by unrecognised organisations.

"SMM's action had violated the university regulations. It cannot represent the 320,000 students because it is an unrecognised organisation that was not elected and not given the mandate.

"The students consultative council chaired by the deputy prime minister should be empowered as the channel to express students' view to the nation's leadership, not through demonstration," it stated.

Instead of repealing the UUCA, Effendi said the student representatives would support any suggestions to improve the Act.

Meanwhile, Najib said there is also great concern about the unemployment problem among local graduates.

He said a survey conducted by the National Economic Action Council on the gap between students' perception and employers in public and private sector will be studied to enable students prepare themselves before entering the job market.

Also present at the meeting were Entrepreneurial and Co-operative Development Minister Khalid Nordin, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shafie Apdal, Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh, his deputy Foo Ah Kiow, parliamentary secretary Dr Adham Baba and Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.