KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan has said that the party is confident the Registrar of Societies (RoS) will approve amendments to the party constitution to allow internal polls to be delayed six months after it approved a similar request from MCA. 

Ahmad Maslan was reported saying by Utusan Malaysia that the party sent the amendment at 2pm yesterday and is confident that the amendment to postpone its party election would go through.

"Our amendment is more or less similar to what the RoS approved for MCA, so it is not a new thing. I hope the RoS will not take long because the amendment is similar to MCA’s constitution.

"I think this government department is fast, so it can be approved quickly, because if MCA can pass, why can’t Umno pass?” he was quoted saying by the Malay daily. 

On Sunday, Umno approved amendments to the party constitution in an extraordinary general meeting to allow internal polls to be delayed six months.

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, who tabled the amendments, said among the changes was to Clause 10.16, which allowed the party leadership to delay scheduled elections by up to 18 months, this time further delaying the polls by up to six months after a general election.

Meanwhile, among the things the RoS approved of the MCA amendment was to add a clause in the party constitution by allowing the participation of members from non-Chinese to become associate members.

In addition, party elections must be held within six months after the general election, or after 36 months from the previous party election, whichever is later, as well as with respect to the quorum of the meeting, once amended, the party constitution stipulates that any adjourned meeting must have a minimum quorum of seven persons.