PETALING JAYA, AUG 2- The Registrar of Societies (ROS) failed to observe the principles of law in directing the DAP to reconvene its party polls due to a vote counting blunder, said party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today.
In a letter to the ROS, Lim said “reasonableness in the exercise of power, natural justice and due legal process” were conveniently ignored by the Registrar when it instructed the party’s central executive committee to conduct fresh polls.
Lim who is also the Penang chief minister said that ROS did not provide any reason why it was dissatisfied with the party’s explanation on the blunder, which has been rectified when it was brought to public attention.
“Besides, ROS has no power under Section 16 (1) and (2) of the Societies Act 1966 to order a registered body to conduct fresh polls,” he said in the letter today.
The letter was hand-delivered to the ROS headquarter this morning, and DAP said it was willing to meet the Registrar to discuss the issue.
The gist of Section 16(1) states that if there is a dispute, the Registrar can order a society to provide an explanation within one month.
Section 16(2) says that if the notice issued under subsection (1) is not complied with to the satisfaction of the Registrar, the Registrar may take steps to cancel the registration of a society under Section 13.
On Wednesday, ROS said that it was dissatisfied with the explanation given by DAP over a counting error in the party polls on Dec 15 last year.
It stemmed from DAP’s confession in January that its returning officer made an error in the result when transferring the tabulated votes for several candidate using Microsoft Excel.
The amended results saw Lim’s political secretary, Zairil Khir Johari, moving up from 39th position to 20th – the last spot in the CEC.
