RoS temporarily deregisters PPBM (Updated)

PUTRAJAYA: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) has been temporarily deregistered by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) for failing to furnish the
minutes of meetings of its divisions and branches by the stipulated deadline.
Its director-general Surayati Ibrahim said the decision which was taken under Section 14 (5) of the Societies Act 1996 takes effect from Thursday.
"We have delivered the notice to PPBM secretary-general at 12.30pm, today (today)," she told reporters at the RoS headquarters, here.
The temporary deregistration of the party, she said will take effect for 30 days where PPBM would not be allowed to conduct any activities nor use its logo and name during the period.
Surayati said the Umno-splinter party will be given 30 days to appeal as well as submit all the required documents and information or risk full deregistration
should it fail to do so.
She said it would be against the law for PPBM to continue with its activities and use its logo or name but refused to divulge the specifics.
"Under Section 14(6) of the Societies Act 1966, if PPBM manages to hand over all the required documents and information within the said period, the RoS may cancel the temporary disband order.
"If not under Section 14(7) of the Societies Act 1966, PPBM's registration would be cancelled outright," she added.
She also dismissed the party's initial interpretation of RoS' demands, saying that only RoS' interpretation matters.
"The decision taken by the RoS was made based on facts that we have received from PPBM's members. PPBM members were not satisfied with the ongoings in the party administration such as meetings and documentation distributed to them.
"They also cited the use of the word 'Armada' when it is not even listed in the party's constitution," she added.

The latest decision which comes close to the elections came after RoS had earlier sent a notice to PPBM on Feb 28 to furnish the said reports, as well as its financial report within 30 days from that date or face the risk of de-registration.
However, PPBM president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said that the party was unable to furnish minutes of meetings of its divisions and branches by the deadline because ROS had only approved the setting up of the divisions last July and that no organisation held an annual general meeting in less than one year of its establishment.
Several PPBM divisions in the country had lodged complaints to the RoS that the PPBM top leadership failed to comply with the party's constitution, including the failure of all PPBM branches and divisions to hold the meetings, despite its establishment in 2016.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz believes the de-registration of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) would not affect Barisan Nasional (BN) in any way, likening the party to a mere mosquito bite.
"No, not at all, no. How do you feel about mosquito bites? I think you just scratch it off. You will scratch it and you still enjoy it.
"I don't think it's going to affect us in any way. Suspended or not, or whether or not it's good for us (Barisan Nasional), I think voters have decided and they know who to vote," the Tourism and Culture Minister said when asked if he believed the de-registration would benefit BN.
Nazri was speaking during a press conference after launching the Malaysia Smart Tourism 4.0 powered by Tencent, here, today.
Commenting further on the matter, Nazri said the dissolution of PPBM was all the party's own doing, and that RoS has every right to take such action, adding that he would have preferred to defeat the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led party at the polls.
"Certainly we don't want to win by default, in the sense that they are being declared as void. We want to win a fair and strong fight," he said.
"PPBM's constitution was formulated by the same people who created the party. Nobody forced them to put anything in the constitution except themselves.
"RoS didn't ask you to include any requirement except if you agree to. If PPBM doesn't comply with their constitution, then they cannot be a legal party. You have to follow the law," he said.