DAP has received official notification from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) with regards to the “Re-Election of the DAP Central Executive Committee” dated 17 July 2017.
We are stunned by the decision of the ROS to “advise” the re-election of the 2013 CEC members based on two totally false and unfounded reasons.
- The ROS said that there were qualified delegates for the DAP CEC Re-election held in 2013 who were denied their rights to vote.
- The ROS also said that there was discrepancy between the number of qualified delegates because there were a reported 865 qualified branches in the 2012 CEC election while there were a reported 985 branches in 2013. This allegedly showed an additional 120 branches for the 2013 re-election.
This is FALSE.
The number of qualified delegates for the DAP CEC Re-election held in 2013 were exactly the same as that of the 2012 CEC election. This was confirmed by independent auditors who carried out and witnessed the 2013 Re-election. Notices were also delivered to every qualified delegate and the proof of postage was previously submitted to the ROS in 2014.
This is FALSE.
(i) There were 751 qualified branches in 2012. The same 2,576 delegates from the same 751 qualified branches were notified for 2013 CEC re-election.
(ii) There were indeed a total of 985 branches in DAP in 2013. However, only 751 branches with 2,576 delegates were qualified to vote in the 2013 re-election.
(iii) There were never 865 qualified branches for the 2012 CEC election. The first time the number 865 was ever raised was a claim made by a fabricated “Laporan Equiti: Penipuan Pemilihan CEC” report by a fictitious “Father Augustus Chen”.
(iv) Lim Kit Siang won his defamation case against Utusan Malaysia’s publisher over the paper’s “Father Augustus Chen” report, and was awarded RM250,000 in damages by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 10 December 2014.
The question hence is why is the ROS making its decision based on a court-confirmed fictitious report.
In addition, we refute the stand now taken by the ROS that all decisions made by the CEC elected in 2013 are null and void. The ROS should be reminded of the agreement arrived with the DAP on 23 September 2014 in the KL High Court where “the ROS recognises that the DAP CEC elected on 29.9.2013 may carry out all its powers, functions and duties in the administration of the daily affairs of the DAP in accordance with the Constitution of the DAP”.
We wish to reiterate that the DAP is not afraid of holding party elections. The term of the current CEC elected in 2013 is expiring and we are in the process of organising the Congress to elect a new CEC. It is ridiculous that the ROS now wants the DAP to hold another re-election based on the 2012 delegates list, instead of the 2017 list.
There are currently several options available to the DAP, including holding the re-election under protest as well as mounting a legal challenge against the decision of the ROS. In the mean time we will make efforts to meet with the ROS to discuss the way forward. However, efforts to meet the Registrar so far has been unsuccessful.
We hope that in the interest of justice and fair-play, the Registrar can act responsibly and professionally to meet us soon.