By Boo Su-Lyn The Malaysian Insider April 18, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 – The DAP demanded the Registrar of Societies (ROS) today to retract its letter by tomorrow on not recognising the party’s office-bearers, failing which the opposition party would run under PKR and PAS logos in Election 2013.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that the Bernama report, which quoted ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman today as saying that the DAP could still use its Rocket symbol for the May 5 polls, was “not good enough”.
“The DAP CEC in its meeting tonight decided that RoS must revoke its letter not recognising the office-bearers in the CEC by 3pm tomorrow on Friday,” Lim told reporters at the DAP headquarters here today, referring to the party’s central executive committee.
“Failure to do so will result in the DAP directing its 53 parliamentary candidates and 103 state candidates throughout the country to contest in the next general elections under the PAS symbol in peninsular Malaysia and the PKR symbol in Sabah and Sarawak,” he added.
Lim lambasted the ROS’ move in issuing the letter dated April 17, 2013, just two days before nomination day, saying it intended to “kill off DAP’s electoral prospects by forcing all DAP candidates to be independent.”
The caretaker Penang chief minister also said it was “ridiculous” for the ROS to claim that the DAP did not send out proper notices on its national congress last December, resulting in 753 delegates not attending the December 15 meeting.
DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, who was also at the press conference, said quietly: “I want to confess I shed tears.”
Kit Siang added that the DAP was worried about voters being confused with the party using PAS’ moon logo, but pointed out that they were “forced” into taking the risk.
The MCA has frequently warned Chinese voters against supporting Pakatan Rakyat (PR), claiming that PAS, an Islamist party, would implement hudud law in the multi-racial country.
The ROS ruling could scuttle the DAP’s plans to decimate MCA in the 13th general election, especially in the Chinese party’s stronghold of Johor, where Kit Siang will take on caretaker Johor mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in the Gelang Patah federal constituency.
Election 2013 is expected to be the country’s most heated election in recent times, with a solid opposition pact going all out to remove the BN government for the first time since independence.
Guan Eng said today that it was up to voters to decide if the ROS’ action was acceptable.
“If they feel this is completely disgraceful, they’ll show their anger at the ballot box. We want BN to feel the anger of not just our supporters, but also right-thinking Malaysians,” he said.
Guan Eng pointed out that the Election Commission (EC) was bound by the ROS letter, noting that DAP candidates needed to show EC officials on nomination day a letter of authority signed by the party’s secretary-general, authorising them to use the party’s logo.
“Many of our members shed tears. How do you explain to your voters?” he said.