UNDER pressure from the Registrar of Societies (RoS), DAP today said it will hold re-election for its central executive committee (CEC) because the general election could be called at any time.
But the party is adamant that the order for fresh polls using the 2012 delegates’ list was “unfair and illogical”.
DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke said the list was no longer up-to-date as there were delegates who had died or left the party.
“How can we have a re-election based on the 2012 list? It’s very illogical of the RoS to ask us to conduct a re-election after five years. We want a meeting with the RoS to explain our position and to answer their questions against us,” he said after submitting a letter to the Registrar in Putrajaya today.
In the letter submitted to the RoS, DAP’s Teresa Kok, who was the national organising secretary from 2008 to 2012, said the party was ready to conduct a re-election for the CEC through a special congress in accordance with the party constitution.
An independent auditor, PKF Consulting, will also be appointed to monitor and conduct the re-election, the letter said.
Kok, now DAP’s national vice-chairman, said the decision to hold a re-election was because the 14th general election could be called soon. The GE14 must be held by August 2018.
Kok, who is also Seputeh MP, said she was disappointed that the RoS had taken four years to reject the party’s 2013 re-election results.
The RoS in a press statement on July 7 said the appointment of CEC members and those with key positions in DAP through its 2013 re-election was deemed unlawful.
“The decision, coming after four years and at the time where the general election is around the corner, is unreasonable and unfair to DAP,” she said.
The dispute over DAP’s party elections started after some delegates complained about irregularities in the first CEC election in December 2012.
A re-election was held in September 2013 after the RoS said it did not recognise the 2012 polls and warned the party of de-registration.
Loke said DAP was still considering legal action.
“Going for a judicial review is still an option, even if we comply with holding a re-election.
“We do not agree with the reasons given by the RoS as to why we should hold a re-election and we have replied them. They should give us proof… if the RoS said we used a different list of delegates, tell us who are the names, who are the people who voted compared to (the delegates in) 2012.
“After four years, they still can’t give us any proof and can only say ‘we did not comply’… that’s very unfair to us,” he said. – July 21, 2017.