Ex-deputy minister Saifuddin quits UM post in solidarity with UMcedel director BY ANISAH SHUKRY 30 June 2014 Former deputy higher education minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah today resigned as a senior research fellow from Universiti Malaya (UM) in protest against the forced resignation of Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Redzuan Othman, the head of the varsitys Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMcedel). On the principle of academic freedom and solidarity, I resign as UM senior research fellow today. It is related to the case against Prof Redzuan, Saifuddin posted on Twitter. To a question from Twitter user @johngray22, Saifuddin said he was referring to the news on Redzuans resignation in The Malaysian Insider today.. Saifuddin, who heads the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation, was a senior research fellow at UMs Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The Malaysian Insider reported that the Education Ministry had told Redzuan to quit as UMcedel director, while his tenure as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in the university was also not renewed. It is understood that Redzuan’s work in UMcedel has sealed his fate at the university. It was learnt that over the last few years, UMcedel had irked Putrajaya with its various survey findings showing the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in a bad light. One survey which was said to have rattled the BN was conducted during the run-up to the 2013 general election, where its findings showed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak trailed behind opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The UMcedel poll showed that more than 60% of voters surveyed favoured Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) manifesto, compared to just 50% for BN’s election pledges. It also showed that 43% of respondents believed that Anwar was qualified to be prime minister, pipping Najib by four percentage points. Najib had rubbished the findings and many BN supporters questioned the methodology used. UMcedel in its reply noted that Najib had been pleased with earlier surveys after he had assumed office which painted a positive picture of him and the BN. However, despite the projections, BN won the 13th general election but with a reduced majority, capturing 133 parliamentary seats. Pakatan, meanwhile, clinched 89 out of the 222 parliamentary seats. Within the academic circles, it is common knowledge that Redzuan (pic, left), a history professor, had often faced pressure from the Education Ministry over the centre’s findings. The Malaysian Insider learnt that Putrajaya was also unhappy with Redzuan for purportedly being opposition-friendly, although he had on many occasions explained it by saying, where would I be without politicians. Apart from surveys on the BN and Najibs popularity, UMcedel had also conducted a study on Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Umno elections. Pressure against Redzuan included interference in his university programmes that involved PR leaders, which the academic had repeatedly resisted. According to UMs website, Redzuan was to serve as director from February 26, 2012 to December 31, 2014. It is understood that a ceremony will be held today to hand over his post to his deputy, Profesor Dr Md Sidin Ishak. – June 30, 2014
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 04:44:59 +0000
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