Karpal accuses Hishammuddin of ‘lying’

The DAP supremo demands an apology from the home minister for claiming that the party failed to submit its election returns before the deadline.

GEORGE TOWN: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has lied and acted irresponsibly for alleging that DAP failed to submit its election returns to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) within the required 60-day period, said party chief Karpal Singh.

Karpal demanded that Hishammuddin retract his false statement and apologise.

He clarified that DAP had submitted the election returns in accordance with the law on Feb 8, a week ahead of the 60-day deadline on Feb 15.

“We submitted the election returns and received ROS’ acknowledgment receipt,” he added.

Karpal said Hishammuddin’s accusation was a serious matter as it could lead to the de-registration of DAP.

He said Hishammuddin’s statement that DAP had failed to meet the deadline was a misrepresentation of facts, false and misleading

“He has lied publicly. It shows irresponsibility. The minister should apologise and retract his lies,” he added.

Hishammuddin had said that ROS would probe complaints by party members on DAP’s contentious central executive committee (CEC) election held on Dec 15 last year in Penang.

He also said that the DAP had failed to meet the Feb 15 deadline to submit its election returns.

The complaints followed an announcement by the party leadership three weeks after the internal polls that there had been a technical glitch in the tabulation of the results.

In the revised list, party secretary general Lim Guan Eng’s aide Zairil Khir Johari was elevated from previous 39th spot to the elected 20th position in the CEC.

The “technical error” forced the resignation of party election director Pooi Weng Keong.

BN exploiting a non-issue

Karpal, a lawyer by profession, explained that the election returns to ROS did not include a report on the technical glitch.

Based on the election returns, he said the ROS would only investigate if there were valid complaints on irregularities in the electoral process.

He accused the Barisan Nasional of exploiting a non-issue to put DAP in a bad light.

He said BN would surely play up the issue during the general election campaign and hoped that the ROS would act without fear from any quarters in its investigation, if any.

He reiterated that the party polls were not manipulated, rigged or fraudulent.

“The election was free and fair,” he insisted, adding that the issue did not really demand an investigation.