No party polls till RoS gives official reason, says DAP

GEORGE TOWN, Aug 5 — The DAP is adamant about not calling new elections for its central executive committee (CEC) until the Registrar of Societies (RoS) formally provides a reason.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (picture) said fresh polls would be held only if the RoS could state its reasons according to the law under the Societies Act 1966.

“This is typical of RoS nowadays, to make announcements without giving us a letter in reply first,” Lim said in a press conference at his office today.

He accused the RoS of not acting professionally where it made announcements through the media but did not send the DAP any formal letter.

Yesterday, RoS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said that the RoS has made the decision on the CEC election based on statements given by the party’s stakeholders.

He had also said the Act did not provide a need for the RoS to explain its reasons for the decision to order the DAP to hold re-elections of its CEC.

The Penang chief minister demanded that the RoS tell the DAP in a formal letter which section of the Act that requires the party to call for fresh elections of its highest committee.

“This establishes our concern on abuse of power to victimise us when they fail to give reasons why we must call for re-elections,” he said.

He accused the RoS of not daring to give its reasons in writing and the only conclusion that could be drawn from this “is that it is an act of political revenge”.

“If they don’t give us the reasons for this, what happens if they do this again, when they are not in a good mood, next month or next year?” he asked.

The Bagan MP refused to accept that the RoS could not give a valid reason for its decision.

The RoS had on July 30 issued the DAP a letter ordering it to hold new elections for the CEC, citing the reason that it was not satisfied with the party’s explanation on the issue of manipulation of votes during the earlier party elections.

Lim admitted that the party made a mistake during its party elections last year but the party had been transparent in announcing the mistake and correcting it.

“They must tell us why and under which section of the Act that we must hold a re-election and we will follow their orders to hold a re-election,” he said.

The party had replied the RoS’s letter demanding for the reasons behind the decision.

“Now, we will wait for an official reply in writing from RoS on this first,” Lim said.