DAP playing the sympathy card
Is DAP purposely inviting action from the ROS so that it can pretend that it is the victim of persecution and injustice?
By Salleh Said Keruak, FMT
DAP has filed a judicial review at the High Court seeking an order to quash a decision by the Register of Societies (ROS) to withhold recognition of its Central Executive Committee (CEC) which was re-elected on Sept 29, 2013.
This re-election, in fact, was held because the ROS would not recognise the party’s first election of Dec 15, 2012.
In the application filed by DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng recently on Jan 22, the party is also seeking for a declaration that the ROS’ decision is invalid under the law. The matter is fixed for hearing before High Court judge Zaleha Yusof on March 11.
“We say ROS did not have the power under the Societies Act to withhold recognition of a lawfully elected CEC,” said DAP’s legal bureau chairman and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo earlier this week.
The reason that the ROS is withholding recognition of DAP’s CEC is because of more than a dozen complaint letters which the party’s own members and leaders sent to the ROS.
The complaints that the ROS received are as follows:
1. Inadequate notice period (which should have been 10 weeks, as what DAP chairman Karpal Singh himself admitted).
2. The 851 delegates who were absent or not invited to the re-election when they were eligible to attend and vote at the meeting.
3. The 985 instead of 865 branches that were involved in the re-election.
4. The delegates’ list Dec 15, 2012 was not used, as they should have.
5. The proper notice of the meeting was not issued.
6. The election was not transparent.
7. Suspected elements of fraud.
8. Suspicious election results.
9. Manipulation of votes.
All these allegations were raised by DAP’s own members and leaders.
