‘RoS DID RIGHT’
THE Registry of Societies’ directive to DAP to hold a second re-election for its central executive committee is in accordance with the law, says the deputy prime minister. DAP, however, does not seem keen on observing the instruction, with its secretary-g
We always said that elections must be free and fair, and pushed for the Election Commission to be free and fair. So, the party must also be free and fair in its election.
FORMER DAP ASSEMBLYMAN JENICE LEE YING HA
They should stop the blame game and accept responsibility.
FORMER DAP VICE-CHAIRMAN TUNKU ABDUL AZIZ TUNKU IBRAHIM, REFERRING TO THE PARTY
THE Registry of Societies’ (RoS) directive for DAP to hold a second re-election for its central executive committee (CEC) is in accordance with the Societies Act 1966, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the first re-election, which was conducted in 2013, was not valid as several clauses in DAP’s constitution were not adhered to.
“The statement issued by RoS was to clarify (the issue that DAP would be deregistered). I met RoS director-general (Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah) and told him to act professionally and not emotionally.
“RoS will send a letter to DAP secretary-general (Lim Guan Eng) to instruct him to hold a reelection for the party’s CEC, but no time frame was given,” he said at the Bagan Datuk Umno division meeting here yesterday.
It was reported that Razin had clarified that RoS had no intention of deregistering DAP but the party must hold a fresh election for its CEC.
Zahid’s statement came after several opposition leaders questioned RoS’s instruction.
PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali had claimed that “political hands” were involved as “RoS took a long time before making the decision”.
Meanwhile, Zahid urged Umno grassroots leaders to prepare for the 14th General Election.
“This will be the last meeting before the general election. The focus is working hard to increase our majority in the Bagan Datuk constituency.
“We must retain the Bagan Datuk parliamentary and Rungkup state seats, as well as regain the Hutan Melintang state seat.
“We should field candidates who are wanted by the voters. The time of lobbying is over as we want those who are winnable and likeable to contest,” said Zahid, who is also Bagan Datuk member of parliament.
He said in GE11, Umno won the parliamentary constituency (then known as Bagan Datoh) with a 12,539 vote-majority, compared with 2,692 votes in GE12 and 2,108 votes in GE13.
He chided elected representatives who seldom served their constituents.
“Do not only come (to constituencies) when I am around here. I also don’t want to be inaccessible to the people as I am working for their wellbeing,” he said.
Zahid criticised Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for making Uturns on various issues, including Bank Negara Malaysia’s foreign exchange market losses in the 1980s and 1990s.
He said Dr Mahathir went so far as to call for his former bitter enemy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to be released from prison.
Zahid said Dr Mahathir had made another U-turn by joining forces with former nemesis Lim Kit Siang, who is DAP adviser.
“He even ate his own words when he said Anwar was being sabotaged in politics when it was him (who did so during his premiership),” he said.
Echoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement on Friday, Zahid said Dr Mahathir should keep his views to himself and stop slandering others.
“He (Dr Mahathir) said Melayu mudah lupa (Malays easily forget) but he was the one who is forgetful (as his many U-turns make clear).
“He was the one who taught us to support him when he was our leader. Has he forgotten that? I was detained under the Internal Security Act and lost all positions, but persevered in my aim to serve the people.
“He should remember that if he can do that, others can also expose him the same way he has been attempting to do to others. We don’t want to resort to personal attacks, but if he does not back down, we can also do the same.
“What about the RM30 billion losses suffered by Bank Negara during his tenure? What about Perwaja Steel, which had to be bailed out, and Proton, which suffered huge losses?”