KUALA LUMPUR: It is up to universities to decide who would be allowed to enter their campuses.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said public universities in the country had been given the autonomy to decide.

“Its the decision of the universities administration, they have the right to control who can come in and who is not,” he said when met at Parliament today.

Idris was commenting on the claim by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who was hailed as Asia’s best debater last year, that he was barred from speaking at events in Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) and University Tenaga Malaysia (UNITEN).

Syed Saddiq said he was told by organisers that the Uniten was cancelled, while the one at Usim was “postponed until the political scene gets better” and that he might bring “external provocation” to the campuses.

He was scheduled to talk about the plight of the Palestinians, refugee crisis as well as volunteerism among the youth.

Syed Saddiq is one of the signatories of the declaration initiated by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang to oust Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Yesterday, he had called on Idris to look into the matter.-nst