Bandar Terengganu state assemblyman Azan Ismail filed the petition in court challenging the amendments as he had not received any “logical explanation” from the state government on the matter.
The amendments made to Section 9 of the Malay Reserve Land Enactment in May 2015 sees Umno take over the ownership of all Malay reserve land.
“So we don’t have a choice. Since I was the only assemblyperson who objected to the amendments, I think it’s my duty to file the petition,” Azan told the news portal on the petition he filed at the High Court in Kuala Terengganu on April 23.
He added that his action was made in the hope that the court would reverse the amendments passed.
According to Azan, both the Terengganu state constitution and Federal Constitution require a two-thirds majority of the state legislative assembly to pass any amendment to laws involving land matters, but it was not fulfilled in this case.
“Out of 32 assemblypersons, only 17 voted to approve the amendments, while 14 abstained and one opposed,” Azan told Malaysiakini, adding that all the PAS elected representatives did not object out of ignorance.
“I can also conclude that none of the 14 PAS assemblypersons in Terengganu have a legal background. Most of them are teachers,” he said, adding that as a result they may not have understood the consequences of their inaction.
Azan said he had held to the belief that the state government would eventually reconsider the matter, hence did not take any action until recently.
He also feared that the actions of the Terengganu government could set a precedent with other states allowing the ownership of Malay reserve land to be transferred to political parties.
“It is of paramount importance to stop this precedent. Only Terengganu has made this move in putting Umno as an organisation to be in the Malay Reserve Land Enactment,” Azan told Malaysiakini.
According to him, Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman announced the amendments were necessary to protect Umno’s interests in the state.
“We want to protect land owned by Umno so it remains under the Malays because Umno members are Malays,” Razif was quoted as saying in the Hansard during the state assembly sitting on May 14, 2015.