Sue RoS, says Selangor DAP
(MM) – Fed up with being kicked around by the Registrar of Societies (RoS), Selangor DAP urged its central leadership to sue the regulator for attempting to block the party chiefs from making decisions.
Selangor DAP chairman, Teresa Kok, lashed out at the RoS for allegedly practising double-standards in barring the re-elected DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) from making any decision on behalf of the opposition party, claiming the move was made in bad faith.
“It’s time for DAP to shout to RoS, ‘enough is enough’! We demand RoS to revoke its latest order. Otherwise, we will call upon the Central Executive Committee to take court action against RoS,” Kok said in a speech in Selangor DAP’s 17th state ordinary convention here.
On Thursday, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said the party headquarters received a letter dated December 6 from the RoS on December 11, which stated the agency’s refusal to recognise the party leaders that were re-elected in the DAP’s special congress on September 29.
In the letter revealed to the media, RoS said the DAP CEC could not decide for the party until the agency completes its investigation into “continuous complaints” which it purportedly received from party division leaders and members.
Loke said it was “ridiculous” to prohibit the DAP CEC from making party decisions pending an investigation.
“We will not rule out taking the RoS to court to challenge this decision… we had the special congress, we gave the annual return, and even then, they’re not happy,” he said.
DAP’s leadership is set to discuss and decide next week on whether it will file a lawsuit against RoS.
The DAP has engaged in a long-running battle with the RoS stemming from a technical glitch in the tabulation of votes from the December 15, 2012, party elections that saw Zairil Khir Johari, then the political aide of secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, moving up from the 39th position to the 20th — the final spot on the CEC.
The RoS subsequently ordered the DAP, which is the second-largest party in Parliament after Umno, to conduct fresh polls after saying it was “dissatisfied” with the party’s explanations.
The DAP initially refused to comply, but finally acquiesced with the directive and held a special congress on September 29 that saw the same line-up of leaders being re-elected into the CEC.
