The general council, which met today, maintained that deputy president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani is the acting president.
MTUC secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor told FMT that the council had decided to maintain the status quo until the next election at its triennial delegates conference, due later this year.
“Today, the majority of the general council voted to keep the president’s post vacant and for Effendy to remain as acting president until the next election. We will then decide who will be president,” said Kamarul.
He also said that the general council decided to bring forward the next election to early July.
Halim told FMT that he was extremely disappointed at being denied his rightful post and was considering legal action against the general council.
“I will consider taking legal action against the general council’s decision.
“It is acting like it is more supreme than MTUC’s constitution itself. There is no provision for an acting president in the constitution,” he said.
Kamarul responded that Halim has the right to do so and the general council will not object. “That is his right, just like any other Malaysian citizen,” he said.
A dozen or so general council members aligned to Halim walked out of the meeting today, saying the actions of the leadership were ultra vires the MTUC constitution.
Effendy told FMT that the general council’s decision needs to be respected.
“This is because our constitution states that if there are any ambiguities in its provisions, the general council will decide on the matter,” he said.
Today, the MTUC, which is the umbrella body for trade unions in the country, held its first general council meeting after a 30-month tussle over the president’s post ended with one challenger pulling out of the dispute.
At the 2019 congress election, Halim and former deputy president Jafar Abd Majid obtained the same number of votes, with the third contender, Nor Azlan Yaacob, losing.
This resulted in the general council appointing the elected deputy as acting president pending re-election.
According to Halim, Kamarul had unconstitutionally appointed deputy president Effendy as the acting president and was attempting to nominate him to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) board.
Halim and other general council members contended that the appointment was ultra vires the MTUC constitution since Rule 7(13) states that there is no provision for an acting president.
On March 15, Jafar had submitted a letter of withdrawal from contesting the post to the MTUC leadership and the Registrar of Societies.
Jafar had said he was pulling out to put MTUC back on the right track, adding that Halim could now take over the congress.
Halim in turn had said he hoped the union’s “current leaders” accepted the fact that he was now the president following the withdrawal of his challenger from the disputed post.