Hold polls to take part in General Elections, DAP told (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP has been told to follow the directive of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) or its candidates will not be allowed to contest in the 14th general election, said Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Home Minister said the party must abide by the directive of the Registrar of Societies and pointed out that according to the Societies Act 1966 when the general election comes, the nomination papers of a political party candidate must be signed by its officials or those given the mandate by the party.
Ahmad Zahid said the officials, in this case, is usually the party leadership but if the leadership line-up is not recognised by RoS, the nomination papers cannot be issued nor accepted.
"As a result, the party's candidates cannot contest in the elections. If they still want to, the RoS directive must be obeyed," Ahmad Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, said at a press conference after officiating at the Gombak Umno division meeting yesterday.
On Friday, RoS director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah in a statement said the DAP's CEC re-election in 2013 was not held in accordance with the law, so it was invalid.
Ahmad Zahid said he was not involved in the decision and had ordered the RoS to behave "professionally".
He said with regard to complaints by DAP members about the CEC re-election on Sept 29, 2013, the RoS found the appointment of the CEC and main office-bearers to be invalid.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the only message that he wanted to send to DAP was that he was not interfering but as the Home Minister he was just pointing out what is in the DAP constitution.
He said DAP could go ahead with its plans to file a case against the RoS decision if it feels it is necessary.
On Saturday the DAP's CEC in an emergency meeting decided not to hold fresh party elections, and would seek a meeting with RoS to "clear the air".
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had said the party had already conducted a re-election of its CEC members in September 2013 and the result was submitted to RoS in November 2013, and as such he said the question of a fresh re-election did not arise.
Meanwhile, in George Town, Lim said the ROS order for the party to conduct re-elections is politically motivated.
He said the move was to cripple the administration of the party as well as its machinery and preparatory work for the 14th General Election which must be held by the middle of 2018.
He described the order as lacking in clarity and had caused confusion and pointed out ROS had told the party to conduct a re-election in 2013.
He said the party had done as required and questioned why the new order came only four years later in 2017 and not in 2014.
Lim said the 2013 re-election was held after the party election in 2012 using the same delegates list in 2012.
He said the 2012 delegates list would have changed after four years as some have left the party and some have died.
Lim said the party has yet to receive the official letter from ROS and stressed the DAP would like to meet with the Registrar.
He said the matter will be reviewed by national acting chairman Tan Kok Wai, national organising secretary Anthony Loke and CEC member Gobind Singh.
theSun has emailed ROS director-general Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah for a response.