DAP's Lim Guan Eng has declined his last-minute appointment as national vice-chairperson and said he will instead serve the people and party as an ordinary member.

"To accept the appointment of national vice-chair now as approved by the congress and the central executive committee (CEC) when I did not participate in elections may present opportunities for the matter to be exploited or manipulated," said Lim in a press statement today.

Lim withdrew from the CEC race at the DAP 13th annual congress on Saturday, a decision which took many party delegates by surprised.

According to him, the decision to pull out was to ensure that the legality and validity of the party election were not questioned.

The election may be declared invalid if a disqualified person who has been imprisoned for more than a year participates in it.

"As a responsible party member, it is my duty to look after the larger interests of the party by withdrawing from the party election to remove any doubt of its validity and legality," he explained.

However, a day after the withdrawal, an emergency resolution was tabled by the CEC to appoint Lim to the party leadership line-up and this was unanimously backed by the 300-odd delegates.

He was appointed the party's vice-chair, his old post in the outgoing central committee.

Deputy chairperson Karpal Singh told the delegates that Lim was appointed "in recognition of his contributions and sacrifices".

"However, his appointment is subject to exemption that has to be granted by the Registrar of Societies (ROS)," said Karpal, adding that section 9(A) of the Societies Act states that a person can be disqualified from holding office in a society if he has previously been fined RM2,000 or jailed for more than a year.

He said section 9(A) (4) of the same act nonetheless provides for an exemption whereby such a person can be allowed to hold office if granted permission by ROS.

'Stop unwarranted attacks'

Lim was sentenced in 1998 to 18 months in jail after he lost his appeal against a charge of publishing false news of an alleged sex scandal involving a 15-year-old girl and Rahim Thamby Chik, the then Malacca chief minister.

As a result of his conviction and sentencing, Lim, son of party chairperson Kit Siang, lost the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat which he had held since 1986.

Lim said he would stand together with DAP members to help the party face the next general elections in 2004, despite his not being able to contest in them.

"DAP faces many challenges before the next elections. It is important that we unite and stop making unwarranted attacks against the party," he added.

Lim said leaders must not be part of the problem but be part of the solution to promote party unity.