Memorandum Pelajar Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Mengenai Pemecatan Dato' Seri Anwar Ref: SRC/PRES/001/01(98)
Date: 15th September 1998His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah al-Musta'in Billah ibni al-Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar Riayatuddin al-Mu'adzam Shah, Sultan and Ruler of Pahang Darul Makmur and Constitutional Head of International Islamic University Malaysia.
Your Highness Sultan Hj. Ahmad Shah,
Re: POSITION OF DATO' SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM AS PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
Referring to the above matter, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on the 2nd of September 1998. Subsequently, he has also been relieved from all positions connected to the above mentioned posts. Following the recent political development, media has reported that Dato' Seri Anwar has been removed from his position as the President of IIUM, and the Minister of Education, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak appointed as the interim President. It is with this that we on behalf of the IIUM students would like to request Dato' Seri Anwar remain in his position as the President of IIUM for various reasons explained below:
1. By virtue of Article 20(iii) of IIUM's Memorandum and Article of Association, there are two ways by which a President is relieved from his post, namely, by he himself resigning from the post or the Constitutional Head, with power vested in him remove the President. Article 20(iii) states:
"The President may by writing under his hand addressed to the Constitutional Head, resign his office, or he may be removed by the Constitutional Head"
This Article clearly implies that the Government of Malaysia does not have any prerogative whatsoever to remove the president although they are the majority shareholder of the University, being a company registered in the registry of Companies. This is due to the fact that this university is a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital.
The power to appoint the President of this University is vested upon the Constitutional Head. Article 20(ii) provides;
"The president is appointed by the Constitutional Head acting on the recommendation of the Host Member after consultation with the Majlis for such a period, as may be specified by the Constitutional Head. Provided always the terms shall not exceed five years."
The above Article clearly stipulates the power of Your Highness on the appointment of the President. Therefore, any appointment, which contravenes the stipulated article, is null and void. The position of dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak as interim President is also questionable, the reason being the removal of Dato' Seri Anwar itself did not comply with the prescribed law.
To our dismay, the appointment of Dato' Seri Najib as the interim president has been made public without University's Majlis being called for a meeting. This implies that Majlis members have never been consulted as required by Article 20(ii) of Memorandum of Association. Futhermore, it has been reported that Dato' Seri Najib was asked by the Prime Minister to hold the post temporarily. There was no mention whatsoever that Your Highness made the appointment. We humbly request that Your Highness take this issue into consideration, as the action was a clear contravention of the law.
2. The University was established upon the foundation of renewed awareness of perennial value in the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. Its establishment is dedicated to the reorientation of the ummah and mankind. It strives to develop a balanced, integrated person ready to face the challenges of the contemporary world. In short, it strives to create a professional muslim individual who realises social order in which Islamic ideals are realised in everyday practical life. IIUM was to represent the institutionalised of well-integrated fields of education. The ideals on which the University was established upon was to inculcate genuine Islamic leaders of the future equipped with the true process of the Islamisation of knowledge. In this regard, Dato' Seri Anwar has been an outstanding intellectual figure who not only contributes towards the enrichment of the Islamic knowledge heritage but also instrumental in achieving the noble aims of Islamisation of knowledge. The university's academic, administrative staff as well as students shares his Islamic ideals and aspirations.
Therefore, we firmly believe that the President of IIUM should be a person who is well equipped with broad Islamic view. Not only that, the person must also be able to inculcate the Islamic values in the contemporary modern world. He should also fully understand and have a solid grip on the philosophies on which the University was established.
Dato' Seri Anwar was reappointed by Your Highness by the power vested to the Constitutional Head in 1998. Dato' Seri Anwar has been a great force in IIUM in the pursuit of attaining academic excellence. He is also well acquainted with the staff and academicians in IIUM. He also maintains good rapport with the students and is ever willing to listen to any arising matters concerning the student welfare.
We are fully aware that Dato' Seri Anwar is under investigations for allegedly involving in several disputed allegations. However, whatever political development has occurred, it should not be complicated towards his position as President of IIUM. It is vital that the process of attaining excellence in IIUM is not disturbed by unnecessary external factors as it may result into prejudices towards the structure of IIUM itself. In the meantime, we strongly support the due process of law and any effort to uphold the rule of law.
Once again, IIUM students would like to humbly request that Dato' Seri Anwar remain as President of IIUM. We believe we have given valid reasons that should be considered seriously by Your Highness. We would like to thank Your Highness beforehand for the time and consideration on the matter. Let us pray that justice will prevail amidst the testing situations we are facing now.
Thank You, Wassalam.
Yours sincerely,
AHMAD NAZIM ABDUL RAHMAN
President
Students' Representative Council
International Islamic University Malaysiac.c.
1. Majlis members, International Islamic University Malaysia
2. Prime Minister's Office
3. Minister of Education