He said IIUM was different from other public universities in the country in terms of its governance structure, adding that it was not bound by the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971.

“It would be against the PH manifesto only if I elected myself to be the head of Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia or Universiti Utara Malaysia, for example, because they have different structures.

“This one is totally different,” he told a press conference after making a courtesy call on Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg at the state legislative building here.

He said IIUM had its own constitution as it was established as an international university with board members consisting of ambassadors or representatives from other countries. The ceremonial powers of the president were usually given to someone representing the government of Malaysia, he added.

“That is why since the beginning of IIUM’s formation, you saw Anwar Ibrahim as the president, before Najib Razak who was the education minister at the time.

“So the tradition is not new because of the different structure of IIUM itself,” he said.