‘CEC re-election issue a form of persecution for DAP’

KUCHING: The Registrar of Societies ( ROS)’s directive for DAP to hold new elections for its central executive committee ( CEC) is a typical Barisan Nasional ( BN) strategy to make life difficult, claims Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen, who is also state DAP chairman.

In describing it as ‘a form of persecution’, he pointed out that the party already carried out a re- election in September 2013.

“The first election of the CEC was in 2012. At that time, there was a computer glitch resulting in the error during the posting of the results. After having discovered it, we informed the ROS on it and gave them the accurate results,” he reporters at the state DAP headquarters here yesterday.

Chong, also Kota Sentosa assemblyman, said the ROS gave the party the greenlight to go for a re- election.

“So we had the re- election in September 2013, where around 700 delegates did not turn up. It’s not that we did not send notices to them ( DAP members) – in fact, our notices and the whole process (of re- election) were supervised by an independent accounting firm.

“We did send out the notices (on re- election), but they did not turn up,” he clarified.

He also pointed out that if these 700 delegates – about 30 per cent of the total delegates – were to be taken into account, then all elections held in the country including the general and state polls would have to be held again as well.

“This is because in all elections, there is no 100 per cent turnout. It’s either 60 per cent or 70 per cent,” he remarked.

Last week, ROS directorgeneral Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah reportedly said that the re- election of DAP’s CEC and office-bearers on Sept 29, 2013 was invalid based on the law.

He said the re- election should be based on the list of delegates with the right to attend and votes for the CEC on Dec 15, 2012 involving 2,576 delegates from 865 branches.

According to the Societies Act 1966 and DAP constitution, only legitimate and recognised CEC members can appoint leaders to the main posts of the political party.

On Razin’s statement, Chong said DAP had yet to receive any official letter from ROS on the matter.

“Upon receiving the letter, we would seek clarification from the ROS and see how they want us to do the re- election, and why the first one carried out in 2013 was not acceptable.”