After a long tussle with the Registrar of Societies (ROS), DAP has decided to hold a re-election for its central executive committee (CEC).

Sources told Malaysiakini that the decision was reached during a two-hour CEC meeting held in Kuala Lumpur last night. The meeting was chaired by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

NONE DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh ( right ) confirmed this in a statement issued later. He explained that this was due to concerns that the ROS may de-register DAP.

"Despite the strong legal position of DAP that the directive of the ROS that the party holds fresh CEC elections in that directive does not have the sanctity or authority of law, in the larger interests of the party, and to avert de-registration of the party, the CEC resolved last night, to hold fresh CEC elections," he said.

Karpal said the party "had made every effort to receive from the ROS the reasons for the directive and the law upon which that directive had been based".

He said Lim had sought to meet with the registrar to discuss the position but the latter declined to give an appointment.

"To compound the position, the party’s repeated requests to the registrar to be supplied with the complaints made against the party have been futile.

"Under the circumstances, it is with regret, that as directed by the ROS, the CEC of term 2008-2011 will meet up next Thursday to make the necessary preparations for the fresh elections," he added.

DAP vs ROS

On Monday, the DAP Central Working Committee (CWC) held an emergency meeting, which unanimously agreed to make a final effort to meet registrar Abdul Rahman Othman to press him for explanations on the reasons why and under what powers of the Societies Act is he directing DAP to hold a re-election for its CEC.

dap special meeting 110313 lim guan eng Lim ( left ) had said DAP was willing to hold party re-elections provided these two explanations are given in a manner that is reasonable, lawful and with factual basis.

DAP and ROS have been at loggerheads since the ROS directed the party to hold fresh elections.

ROS decided this after several disgruntled members lodged complaints with it on DAP's CEC election in Penang last December.

Complaints abounded after DAP issued a public declaration that there was a technical glitch in the polls results, resulting in a wrong announcement of successful candidates.

The corrected report, announced early this year, was certified by an independent auditor, Lim had said.

NONE The candidate wrongfully announced to be in the 20-member CEC was Vincent Wu instead of Lim's political secretary Zairil Khir Johari, who is now also Bukit Bendera MP.

However, DAP National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua ( right ), in a separate statement, said the decision to hold fresh the election was made “under protest”.

He said the steadfast refusal on the part of the ROS to respond to DAP’s queries demonstrates its “degree of unprofessionalism” and points to political interference.

“Such autocratic dictats from the ROS only points to direct political interference by Umno, and more specifically the Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,” he said.