DAP: Kit Siang, Guan Eng eligible to contest in CEC re-election

There is no need for both DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to abstain from taking part in the party's central executive committee re-election.

"This is a free country, they can say whatever they want. But as far as we are concerned, both of them are eligible to contest in the CEC election," DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke told a press conference at the party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Loke was responding to calls made by former DAP members asking Guan Eng and Kit Siang not to participate in the party leadership re-election, slated to be held on Nov 12.

A former chairperson of a DAP branch in Penang, G Asoghan, had called on Guan Eng to step down from his post as the party’s 2012 CEC election was declared invalid by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Guan Eng (photo), the New Straits Times quoted Asoghan as saying, had failed in his role to ensure fairness and transparency in the CEC election.

Loke insisted that the party's CEC re-election, through a special congress, does not go against the party constitution.

Former DAP branch leader L Pannerselvam had claimed that the DAP would be violating its constitution by having the re-election of the CEC through a special congress.

Pannerselvam had also claimed, citing the DAP's constitution, that the central executive committee election must be held in a national congress with a 10-week prior notice given to branches and delegates.

'Party constitution allows special congress'

Loke said: "Yes, in a normal congress, a 10-week notice must be sent out but in this situation, it's not a normal congress but a special congress and this is allowed in the party constitution."

He said there is a provision in the party's constitution providing for the CEC re-election to be held through a special congress.

"And the 14-day notice was requested by the ROS. If one or two people say that the special congress is against party constitution, I ask that they refer it to the ROS."

Loke also clarified that both the re-election and the special congress are the "same thing".

"You cannot call the event just a re-election, we must hold a special congress to have the re-election.

"The agenda of the special congress is just to have the re-election, (there is) no other specific agenda."

Meanwhile, US-based audit firm Grant Thornton - which has been approved to carry out the re-election - confirmed that a notice of the special congress was sent out to the original 2,576 delegates who were eligible to vote at the last CEC election.

The notice excludes 62 delegates who have either passed away, resigned or are bankrupt. The notice was also published in four newspapers.

Grant Thornton representative John Lau confirmed that the eligible candidates vying for re-election would be based on the original list of 68 candidates offered in the last CEC election.

"We have reviewed the status of these candidates and found that five candidates have left the party and one has demised."

Among them are Hiew King Cheun, who left the DAP to join MCA, Zulkifli Mohd Noor who joined the People's Action Party (PAP) and former DAP chairperson Karpal Singh, who died in 2014.

DAP had conducted a re-election in 2013 after ROS detected irregularities in its 2012 election.

In July 2017, ROS told the party that it had no intention of deregistering DAP but it had to hold a re-election following complaints from some DAP members.- Mkini