Deregistration ‘threat’ that wasn’t
Had the DAP immediately called an EGM to seek ratification of the results by the delegates or called for a new vote, the matter would have probably ended there.
Gobind Rudra, FMT
The Registrar of Societies couldn’t have timed it better if he had deliberately sought to create public sympathy for the DAP and provide the party with an emotional stick with which to beat up the Barisan Nasional.
Sure enough, his letter to the DAP withholding recognition of the party’s central executive committee provided the impetus for high drama, a crisis, and grandstanding by the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, with accompanying news headlines heightening the siege mentality (well-founded in the past) by which the party has thrived for all these years.
Cast aside the emotion, and start at the beginning: the DAP dug a hole for itself when it announced a “spreadsheet error” in tabulating the Dec 15 party election results.
The central committee changed the order of votes, and announced a slightly different line-up from that reported at the party convention, allowing Zairil Khir Johari into the CEC, three weeks after the convention.
Had the DAP immediately called an extraordinary general meeting to seek ratification of the results by the delegates or called for a new vote, the matter would have probably ended there and not landed on the Registrar’s desk.
Instead, the central leadership dealt with the problem internally, no doubt in a businesslike manner through audits, before submitting the amended results to the Registrar. By doing so, they provided him a reason to question the results.
If there is any doubt about the CEC election results, it follows that the same doubt applies to the status of the central committee, which came into existence as a result of that election.
The Registrar’s letter to the party on Wednesday records that logic. When he said that he could not give recognition to the central committee, did the Registrar have any other option? A doubtful election means the CEC itself is also doubtful.
The Registrar has given the DAP 30 days to answer his queries about the election results and another matter of 700 or so members not being given proper notice of the party convention.
That keeps the DAP still in business: the Registrar has not declared the elections null and void, or the central committee null and void. Any decision about the legality of the elections would only come after the party has replied.
Stand by for some extra election eve drama, then. The latest date for the DAP to reply is May 17.
Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/04/19/deregistration-%E2%80%98threat%E2%80%99-that-wasn%E2%80%99t/
