DAP to defy ROS directive to temporarily halt CEC decisions

(The Star) – The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has asked DAP to temporarily halt its newly-elected Central Executive Committee (CEC) fromo making any decisions, but the party is refusing to abide by the directive.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said the party received a letter on Wednesday (Dec 11) dated Dec 6 from ROS, stating that DAP sent in an incomplete report on its special congress and re-election which took place on Sept 29.

He said in the letter, the ROS conveyed that the accompanying report was too brief and asked for additional information on DAP members.

The ROS also advised its CEC not to execute any decisions while it carried out further investigations.

At a press conference on Thursday, Loke, said that DAP would comply with the ROS request for more information, but its CEC would not stop making any decisions.

He also said the letter suggested that the ROS did not recognise the re-elected DAP CEC.

“We cannot and will not accept the directive which requires all CEC members to halt decisions until the completion of ROS investigations. DAP cannot operate in a vacuum,” said Loke.

“After the special congress, a new CEC line-up was elected. There is no need for approval from the ROS to make a decisions on behalf of the party. What if the ROS takes months or years to finish their investigations?” he asked.

Loke said that the DAP would not rule out taking the ROS to court to challenge the directive.

The ROS is requesting for a full list of DAP’s 2,578 members, along with their branch affiliations and addresses, a full list of 1,740 voting members along with their particulars and a list of 985 branches with an ‘A’ certification.

In an earlier news report, ROS deputy director-general Alias Mamat was quoted as saying that the DAP employed “delay tactics” in submitting their report.

The special congress to re-elect the CEC was conducted by DAP on Sept 29 after the ROS directed the party to hold fresh polls due reports of a technical glitch in its earlier December 2012 election.