DAP gives RoS ultimatum: Recognise new party leadership or face action
V. Anbalagan, TMI
The DAP has turned the tables on the Registrar of Societies (RoS), giving it 14 days to withdraw its decision not to recognise the CEC elected in September or face the next course of action.
The party’s national legal bureau chairman Gobind Singh Deo (pic) said a letter to this effect was sent to the RoS on December 23.
“The RoS has not come back to us yet. We will wait for them before deciding on the next move,” he told The Malaysian Insider in Kuala Lumpur.
He declined to reveal the party’s next step but it is believed that the DAP will file a judicial review to challenge the RoS for acting beyond its authority.
On December 6, the RoS had written to party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, informing him that it was unable to recognise the new CEC members elected in September until investigations into whether the re-election was done in accordance with the directives issued to it have been concluded.
Gobind said the RoS had also received complaints of alleged irregularities from members.
The RoS further said the report sent by the party to them was too brief and in the meantime, it called on the newly elected CEC members not to make any decisions on behalf of the party.
Gobind said the party leadership had combed through the Societies Act 1966 and could not find a provision to suspend a democratically elected committee pending investigation.
He said the law only stated that a society, including political parties, should first resolve any dispute coming from disgruntled members internally and then report the outcome to the RoS.
Gobind said the RoS would only intervene if the dispute remained unresolved.
“Upon investigation, the RoS can then proceed to suspend or cancel the registration of the society,” he added.
