PEOPLE who have taken the initiative to hold forums or classes on democracy should be allowed into public universities to educate youth on the electoral process, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) Aliff Naif Mohd Fizam said.

The UIAM student union president said students’ representatives of universities should speak up and fight for their right to academic freedom.

“Student representatives should be vocal in terms of academic freedom, be it partisan or nonpartisan.

“They (student representatives) should at least negotiate with the universities to allow such classes to take place,” Aliff told The Malaysian Insight.

In the run-up to the general election (GE), which will take place on Saturday, street artist and activist Fahmi Reza has been going to universities to host his “Kelas Demokrasi” to educate youth and first-time voters on the electoral process.

However, besides in UIAM and Taylor’s University, he has either been barred from or escorted off campus by security personnel in certain universities.

Among the universities whose security personnel halted his class are Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, and most recently, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin.

Upon being barred, Fahmi usually conducts his classes on the streets or in eateries.

Aliff, who attended Fahmi’s session at UIAM, said there is no reason for universities to prevent such classes, as he claimed they do not involve political agendas.

“He (Fahmi) taught something that is very basic like how MPs are chosen, then he spoke about Dewan Negara and its functions because most students don’t know its role.

“He also spoke about policies, how they are made, who is responsible for the policies and how these policies affect the public in their daily life.

“He taught us how to vote and other basic things, and didn’t advocate for any political party,” he said.

Aliff said it is inexcusable for universities to stop such sessions as he claims it would benefit students, especially those who are going to vote for the first time this GE.

“The university administrations do not come to stop the session themselves, but they send security to do it. It is the same thing at other universities.

“They claim he does not have any permission, meaning he did not apply to conduct such classes and hence he is not permitted because they assume it is some sort of ‘political campaign’.

“Well, it is not a programme, it is just a sharing (of knowledge) in a public university,” Aliff said.

The UIAM student also expressed his dissatisfaction with UKM, which he said did not allow Fahmi to hold his democracy class but allowed a politician to campaign on campus.

“UKM did not allow discourse or classes by Fahmi, but it allowed (a) candidate to campaign in UKM.

“So it is quite biased there. Unacceptable,” he said.

Aliff said universities should be more open and allow such sessions to take place, adding that they would only benefit the students.

Aliff said even political parties should be allowed to enter, but said they should hold forums rather than political campaigns.

“Universities might lack certain initiatives, especially for first-time voters. The least they can do is allow someone who has the initiative to teach.

“Other universities should allow those voluntarily coming forward to hold such classes and teach.

“Even political parties, if they want to come to universities, they should have in terms of discourse rather than campaigning,” he said. – November 17, 2022.