Use rocket first during nomination, says Guan Eng

VIDEO l 1.27 mins

The DAP has informed all its 51 parliament and 103 state candidates to use the rocket symbol first during nomination tomorrow, and show the Election Commission the letter of authorisation signed by secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

"If in the event we cannot use our symbol, then show them the letter of authorisation signed by PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali," said Lim at a press conference today.

This comes after the DAP has decided to use PAS and PKR symbols for the coming general election on May 5.

Lim said two letters of authorisation has also been signed by the party and PAS for its candidates.

"This is our last chance to use the rocket symbol but if we cannot, we will use PAS’s symbol," said the caretaker Penang chief minister.

Earlier, DAP chairperson Karpal Singh said DAP will use the PAS logo in the peninsula and PKR logo in Sabah and Sarawak in the general election, as backup, following the Registrar of Societies' failure to withdraw its letter.

The party had appealed to the ROS to withdraw its Wednesday letter to suspend the party's existing central executive committee (CEC) but till this afternoon the department had been silent on the matter.

"Following this, we will do as what was decided yesterday and contest under the PAS logo in peninsula and PKR for Sabah and Sarawak," Karpal(left) said when contacted.

Nominations for general election candidates begins 9am tomorrow and closes an hour later.

PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali when contacted also confirmed that DAP candidates will use the PAS logo in the peninsula.

"I have signed all the letters of authorisation of the DAP candidates (contesting in the peninsula)," said Mustafa.

He described this as "a historic" occasion for PAS, but brought about "by force" by ROS' actions.

Sarawak DAP chief Wong Ho Leng told a press conference in Sibu that the PKR authorisation letters are already on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to the state.

He said PAS had sent copies of their authorisation letters earlier which arrived this morning and had been given to candidates in rural areas for fear that the PKR letters would not arrive in time.

At a later press conference, Wong confirmed that the letters will arrive in Sibu by 6.30pm to allow his members to stand under PKR's banner.

Sabah DAP also ready

Meanwhile, Sabah DAP election director Fred Fung (below) said that the authorisation letters by PKR for its candidates are already on the way from Kuala Lumpur.

"We have people standing by in Kota Kinabalu now to collect the letter and take it to our candidates in Sandakan and Melalap," he said when contacted.

Sandakan and Melalap are 319km and 157km away from Kota Kinabalu respectively.

All DAP candidates in Johor also received authorisation letters from both PAS and DAP this afternoon in Skudai.

The letters were handed over by state chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng meanwhile said he will comment on the matter at a press conference at 6.30pm after discussing the matter with the party leadership.

Earlier today, ROS said it was in the midst of discussing DAP's request to withdraw its letter.

"We will do the necessary (actions) later," ROS director-general Abdul Rahman Othman said in a text message, without elaborating further on the actions it was contemplating.

DAP had last night demanded that the ROS withdraw its letter by 3pm today.

The letter, saying that it does not recognise the party's top leadership lineup, was the result  of claims of a "technical glitch" in the party's election's last year.

If ROS failed to act on the letter's demand, DAP would contemplate contesting under its partners' logos.

This is despite Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (right) confirming that DAP could still participate in the polls regardless of non-recognition of its CEC.

Meanwhile, Karpal also told Malaysiakini that the party will not be filing any application to challenge the ROS’ decision.