Wednesday June 11, 2008

IIUM drops Sanusi as head

By KAREN CHAPMAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Sanusi Junid has been “relieved of his duties” as International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) president with immediate effect.

Reading from an 18-page statement yesterday, Sanusi said he received the letter dated June 2 on Monday.

He said the letter, bearing the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah’s letterhead and signature, did not give any reason why he was being relieved of his duties.

This, he added, meant that the termination of his service was a “sacking” based on pressure from other parties.

Sanusi, who was serving his second term as president, said he had two years left on his contract.

Under the university’s constitution, he said “the president could either resign from his office or be relieved of his position by the constitutional head on the advice of the host member”.

Sanusi said the Pahang Sultan was the constitutional head of the university, adding that the host member was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

He claimed that he had a good relationship with the Sultan and did not think he had acted alone on the matter.

“I consider this an ‘honourable sacking.’ As a result, I am not sad,” he said.

On June 5, the former Kedah Mentri Besar said he would not step down as IIUM president, adding that he had no intention of using the position to pursue a personal political agenda. He had, on May 19, resigned from Umno together with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

University sources said they had also received a letter from the constitutional head informing them that Sanusi had been relieved of his post.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin said his ministry was not involved in the termination.

Meanwhile, Tun Mahathir said he was saddened by what had happened to Sanusi. “Maybe he committed a grave offence. However, it seems like a coincidence that the action was taken after he left Umno,” he wrote in his blog.