DAP to RoS: Reveal complaints, or face lawsuit

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 — The DAP demanded today for full particulars of the complaints that led to the Registrar of Societies’ (RoS) second rejection of its party election results and threatened to proceed with legal action if the agency refuses to comply with the request.

In a statement here, DAP national legal bureau chairman Gobind Singh Deo said the party is entitled to know who had lodged the complaints against the September 29 re-election and on what basis, and should be given the opportunity to respond to them before the RoS makes any decision that would impact the party.

“Until and unless this is done, the RoS has no power to compel the DAP to comply with its letter aforesaid,” the Puchong MP said, referring to the agency’s December 6 letter which stated its refusal to recognise the party leaders that were re-elected in the September special congress.

In the letter revealed to the media by DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke last Thursday, the 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.

It also said the DAP’s polls report had been too brief and requested for further documents from the party to ascertain if the re-election had been done in accordance with its requirements.

In response, Loke said it was “ridiculous” to prohibit the DAP CEC from making party decisions pending an investigation.

Gobind agreed with Loke today, adding a reminder that the DAP’s re-election report to the RoS ha d been in the “usual format”, which is the same used by the party and accepted by the agency in previous years.

“As such, there is no basis for the RoS to say the report is too brief,” he said.

The DAP also demanded today that the RoS explain which law accords it the power not to recognise the party’s newly-elected Central Executive Committee (CEC) members and to call upon them not to make any decisions pending its probe.

Gobind said such a position was most “serious in nature” and should not be taken lightly, particularly if the RoS had acted beyond its powers.

He said the DAP will pen a letter to the RoS with its latest demands and the agency must in turn respond to prove that it had acted within its legal rights when it issued its position in the December 6 letter.

If the RoS is unable to do this, the letter must be withdrawn, Gobind added.

“If the ROS fails to reply or persists nevertheless, the DAP will likewise respond with legal action which consequences the ROS must then be prepared to face in full thereafter,” he said.

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 39^th position to the 20^th — 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.