Osman Aroff: I will not step down
Malaysiakini
Oct  5, 2006
Muhammad Razif

Former Kedah menteri besar Osman Aroff said he will not resign from the Umno disciplinary board appeals panel simply because a group of disgruntled Kubang Pasu Umno division members had filed a complaint.

“Why should I resign? Even if the case is referred to the appeals panel, all I have to do is disqualify myself from hearing it if I feel I cannot act fairly.

“Similar to judges who face cases with a personal interest, it is sufficient to disqualify themselves,” he said when contacted today.

Osman was responding to the call by Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who urged the former menteri besar to step down from the panel.

Mukhriz said if Osman remained in the panel, other members would feel pressured when hearing the complaint lodged by the five Kubang Pasu Umno members.

In their report, the quintet claimed that the Sept 9 Kubang Pasu divisional delegates contest was tainted with corruption, outside interference and threats.
The contest saw Mahathir failing in his bid to be elected as one of the seven delegates to represent the division during November Umno general assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir, who led the division for more than 30 years, came out ninth among the 15 candidates while Mukhriz took the fifth spot.

Osman, a former Mahathir loyalist, was among those allegedly roped in by the current leadership to campaign against the ex-Umno president during the run-up to the contest.

Appointed by Umno

Meanwhile, Osman said at present, the issue of stepping down or disqualifying himself did not arise as the disciplinary board has yet to hear the complaint.

According to procedure, the board will determine if a particular case merited a hearing.

Osman also stressed that nobody could pressure him into resigning because he was appointed by the Umno leadership.

“I was elected by Umno, it is up to Umno to decide on my position,” he said.

As for the report lodged by the five, the former menteri besar said as party members, it was their right to raise their grouses via the proper channels.

“I don’t know them (the complainants) ... it is up to them to exercise their right accorded to them by the party,” he added.

As for the claim that he had campaigned against Mahathir, Osman admitted that he had attended a meeting at a golf club in Jitra the night before the polls.

“It was a normal meeting, I only went there for a while to meet with the Umno members ... what is wrong with that?” he asked.

Previously, observers had attributed Mahathir’s defeat to his former strongmen who ‘stabbed him’. This included Osman, Mahathir’s former political secretaries Mohd Johari Bahrum, who now heads the Kubang Pasu Umno division and Saad Man.

An Umno branch leader from Jitra had said that Osman wielded a strong influence among the grassroots in Kubang Pasu.

Many of the delegates thought Osman was a ‘fence sitter’ but they rejected Mahathir after hearing his speech at the gold club, he had added.

Among others, the former menteri besar was said to have called on the delegates not to vote for Mahathir as it could lead to a major crisis in Umno, similar to what happened in 1987 and 1998.

Osman said Mahathir had a track record of breaking up Umno and therefore he should be rejected.