New party Urimai questions delay in registration, says might take RoS, Home Ministry to court

KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — The United Rights of the Malaysian Party (Urimai) is considering legal action against the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and the Home Ministry to expedite its registration after waiting unsuccessfully for the past six months since filing its application.

Urimai chairman P. Ramasamy said the party might follow the same route as the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), which went to court to resolve a similar delay in their registration.

“If our application for Urimai’s registration did not meet the requirements, then the RoS should reject our application.

“It serves no purpose for the RoS or the Ministry of Home Affairs to maintain silence on our registration,” he said in a statement today.

Ramasamy also questioned if the delay in the registration was due to the fact that Urimai has taken the role of the Opposition and is critical of the alliance government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“If Urimai is considered a mosquito party headed by some disgruntled individuals bent on revenge with no effect on the Indians, why then the worry?” he asked.

He told Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail that maintaining silence on Urimai’s registration is not an option.

“If even a minimalist democratic requirement of registration is not accorded to a political party, then what kind of democracy are we talking about,” he added.

Urimai was founded last November by Ramasamy who was a former Penang deputy chief minister II that had been with the DAP since 2005 but quit last year after being dropped as a candidate in the August 2023 state election.

The party name in Tamil means “rights”, which Ramasamy said reflects Urimai’s purpose “to defend the rights of the people, especially the non-Malays”.