6 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
MTUC leadership saga ends with Halim Mansor reelected president
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor was reelected president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress during its leadership committee election held in Shah Alam over the weekend.
Halim, who is also the secretary-general of the National Union of Petroleum and Chemical Industry Workers (NUPCIW), defeated the president of the Union of Pos Malaysia Clerical Workers Peninsular Malaysia (UPCW), Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani, with a majority of nine votes.
The election, held during the MTUC Delegates Conference at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) on Saturday and Sunday, saw Halim receive 227 votes compared to Effendy's 218.
The new leadership selection for the 2025–2027 term was conducted in accordance with a directive from the Court of Appeal and was attended by 453 delegates from across the country.
For the post of deputy president, Datuk Mohamed Dauzkaply Nor Ghazali of the Ikhtiar Malaysia Workers Union (Kepaim) won with a 24-vote majority.
The secretary-general's post, meanwhile, was won by Kamarul Bahrin Mansor from the National Union of Waste Management Workers (NUMW) with a seven-vote majority.
Kamarul Bahrin said the election process ran smoothly and marked a new chapter for the union's leadership.
"MTUC will continue to champion workers' rights as our predecessors have. As the national labour centre, we will continue to represent workers' interests to the government," he said.
On Aug 11, 2023, the Shah Alam High Court declared the MTUC Delegates Conference and its July 2022 leadership election null and void due to non-compliance with the organisation's constitution.
It later issued a stay order preventing the MTUC leadership from implementing any policy decisions until the appeal process was completed in the Court of Appeal.
Initially, MTUC filed an appeal, but on April 28, 2024, its general council decided to withdraw the appeal and instead focus on workers' rights, rather than internal disputes.
In February this year, the Court of Appeal ordered MTUC to conduct a fresh leadership election within 90 days, overseen by a joint special committee.
