The stunning suggestion by DAP to use the PAS logo was a deliberate ploy to draw public sympathy, say party insiders.

They said the unprecedented strategy brought to fore the moral and ethical shortfalls of the party leadership and exposed a "brilliant" plan that was hatched for a sterling performance at the stumps.

Ground readings by The Malay Mail showed that while the DAP may have achieved that to a degree, the misstep by the party has also triggered outrage among party members and supporters.

Despite going to the polls with its rocket, members of the largely Chinese DAP felt that the party's intention to use PAS' moon logo was an indication that both parties now accepted each other's ideologies.

NONE They said it was tactically a great move, as the move could condition non-Muslim voters to view PAS favourably as well as dispel lingering notions among Muslims that the DAP was against PAS philosophy.

However, some Chinese held that using the PAS logo was demeaning to the community. Muslims, on the other hand, berated the PAS leadership for the symbol accord and warned them not to sacrifice its principles.

One party insider said the Registrar of Societies (ROS) did not bow to public pressure in allowing DAP candidates to use their own party symbol because "there never was a threat to deregister the party."

He said the ROS was procedurally right in not recognising DAP's newly-elected central executive committee (CEC) after its party election results were called into question.

"The party leadership failed to heed calls by the ROS to hold fresh elections and gave them ample time to do so. They insisted that the amended results were correct and acceptable.

"However, the latest letter by the ROS to the party dated April 17 was ill-timed and caused widespread confusion that to my assessment resulted in a substantial number of fence-sitters swinging towards the DAP," he said.

The letter stated that the ROS was doubtful of the validity of the CEC's status on grounds that the complaints from 753 DAP members that they were disallowed from contesting the party elections last Dec 15.

It noted the technical glitch in the poll results was also a source of discontent among members. A revision of the results three weeks after the convention saw Vincent Wu drop to the 26th spot from the original sixth position, while Zairil Abdullah, originally 39th climbed up to 20th spot and earned a seat in the CEC.

Ingenious plan

Another insider said the ROS had set April 18 for an inquiry, but the party asked for a postponement and set May 17 as the new date.

"In the so-called party symbol crisis, the ROS was merely stating the obvious that it could not recognise the new CEC. It has neither declared the elections or the CEC null and void. Any decision about the legality of the elections would only come after a full inquiry.

"The latest letter was just a reminder that the party must provide explanations to the satisfaction of the registrar, failing which the ROS can deregister the party.

"Such reminders are common as many societies have similarly received such notices in the past," he said.

NONE He said: "Even if the new CEC is not recognised by ROS, the party can still function as the previous committee can assume their duties until a decision on the new committee is made. This principle is similar to the caretaker function in any association and government.

"So, there is no issue about the DAP not being able to use its rocket symbol as it is still a valid political party and its logo is still registered with Election Commission.

"There is no issue about whether party the secretary-general (Lim Guan Eng) could issued letters of authorisation to party candidates as he also served as secretary-general in the previous CEC."

He said the facts had been brilliantly distorted by the DAP leadership to paint a picture that the ROS intentionally wanted to de-register the party with alleged BN prodding.

The script that followed, he said, was "ingenious". "To condition the mind of the people, they deliberately used words such as "despicable", "BN sabotage", "worse than repressive Singapore", "how can we trust their word (referring to the Election Commission) as well as questioned the timing of such letter from the ROS.

He said the drama kings then emerged: An emotional Guan Eng showing anger, his father Kit Siang crying over having no choice, but to discard their rocket and go to the moon.

- The Malay Mail

Free PRU13 app - GE updates at your fingertips

Related stories

DAP's Sim withdraws from Kota Laksamana contest

Sim won't back down, ready to be booted out of DAP

Logo imbroglio helps bring Pakatan together