The DAP has denied speculating on its possible deregistration by the Registrar of Societies (ROS), blaming instead the prime minister's press secretary Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad for the matter.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it was Sariffuddin who raised the matter first when he responded to an article written by DAP Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong on the possible election date.

In his article, Liew reasoned that the 14th general election may be called next year, adding that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may have lost influence in his own party Umno.

"The PM's press secretary should be advised not to assume the power of the Home Minister or ROS," said Lim, who is Penang Chief Minister, at a press conference today.

"We did not speculate; Sariffuddin did it when he was responding to Chin Tong's article," Lim added.

Lim said the DAP wants its opponents to beat the party "fair and square" in the coming 14th general election.

He added that the party wants to face the national polls in a fair manner, urging his opponents to do the same.

To achieve this end, Lim said the party was prepared to meet Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on the issue of deregistering the DAP.

"We are willing to meet the DPM to clear the air on the matter," he said.

Ahmad Zahid is planning to meet the ROS next week to discuss the DAP's status, urging party leaders not to speculate on the matter, as if the ROS was working on deregistering the DAP.

He said ROS had received a letter from Lim asking it to accept, as the valid office-bearers, those who were elected at the previous party elections in 2013.

His remarks came following the party's senior adviser Lim Kit Siang (photo) cautioning members to be prepared for the possibility of deregistration.

The Gelang Patah MP had also warned the party that it should be prepared to have its logo disallowed in the next general election.

Before the 2013 national polls, the DAP was prepared to use PAS' logo should the party be deregistered by ROS but the matter did not happen.

The DAP has claimed that ROS has recognised the party's central executive committee (CEC) which was elected on Sept 9, 2013.

On July 2, DAP's Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said this was raised in a suit brought by the DAP against the ROS in 2014.

The lawyer insisted that the CEC had acted in accordance with the law and administered the party for the last four years without any directions from the ROS to the contrary.