DAP hands in rejection letter for fresh polls to RoS
(MM) – The DAP submitted today a formal rejection to hold fresh party polls, telling the Registrar of Societies (RoS) it had no legal power to make such an order.
In its letter of reply to the RoS, the opposition party’s secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, said the societies regulator had failed to clearly state the reasons behind its directive and the law that empowered it to order the party hold a reelection for its central executive committee (CEC) that had been decided last year.
“In addition, Section 16(1) or 16(2) of the Societies Act 1966 clearly does not empower you to direct an organisation to hold reelection.
“As such, your directive for a DAP CEC reelection to be carried out is beyond the scope of your powers and is voided by the law,” he said.
Lim, who is also Bagan MP, reminded the RoS that it was bound by the law and must abide by legal principles such as “reasonableness in the exercise of powers, natural justice and due legal process”.
“As such, we request that you provide a clear explanation that states the reasons our explanation was rejected and on what legal grounds you are directing the reelection of the DAP’s CEC as stated in your letter,” he added.
Lim said the DAP was willing to meet with the RoS to resolve the matter, but stressed that its members would defend their rights and the party.
Questions over the DAP’s status have been dragging on for nearly half a year, following Lim’s disclosure on January 4 that an internal audit had showed errors in the tabulation of votes from the December 15, 2012 party elections.
He said the counting error was caused by a technical glitch when the results were transferred to a computer using the Microsoft Excel programme.
The amendments resulted in Lim’s political secretary, Zairil Khir Johari, moving up from 39th position to 20th ― taking the last elected position in the party’s CEC.
Following complaints by some members, the RoS began investigations that at one point led to fears that the party would be unable to use its logo in the Election 2013.
But the RoS later confirmed the validity of the DAP CEC’s appointment letters to candidates, which enabled the party to field its candidates in the general election under their rocket logo.
In a letter dated July 30, the RoS said it found the DAP’s explanation on the “tabulation error” of its CEC elections as unsatisfactory.
The brief contents of the letter, however, heightened suspicions of bias within the party, which was already bristling at the government’s reaction following Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s early remarks on the matter.
Zahid was reported by Sin Chew Daily as saying that the RoS was dissatisfied with the DAP’s explanation for the counting mistake and the party would be directed to hold its internal polls again.
According to the Chinese-language paper, Ahmad Zahid, who is also an Umno vice-president, said he would not interfere in RoS matters.
This led the DAP to suggest that the RoS was being used to manipulate the opposition party’s internal affairs at the behest of the ruling Barisan Nasional.
