Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has filed a judicial review to compel the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to make a decision regarding the party’s registration status.
The review seeks a mandamus order from the Kuala Lumpur High Court to either approve or reject the party’s application to formally register it as a political party under the Societies Act 1966.
“Pejuang will always defend the principle of rule of law and thus brings its prolonged registration to the court for fair adjudication.
“The Pejuang pro-tem committee will inform the public of updates to the case from time to time,” said the committee’s secretary-general Amiruddin Hamzah in a statement today.
Amiruddin is named as the plaintiff of the case acting on Pejuang’s behalf, while the ROS and its director-general are named as respondents of the lawsuit.
The suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur (Special Powers and Appellate) High Court this afternoon through the law firm Haidir & Co based in Shah Alam.
The firm is also applying for a certificate of urgency from the court to expedite the case.
Among others, the lawyer Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi cited the ongoing political uncertainty as to the reason, saying that it meant the next general election could be called at any time and Pejuang’s registration status could determine whether the party will be able to contest in the election.
He added that many are keen to join Pejuang and are also using Pejuang’s logo and insignia without its approval.
“If Pejuang’s registration is not expedited, the pro-tem committee would be unable to prevent actions by members of the public keen on joining Pejuang from using Pejuang’s emblems, logos, and/or insignia that is spreading through social media,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, in his 13-page affidavit, Amiruddin said he had submitted a complete registration form for Pejuang’s registration on Aug 19. This was done both online and during an appointment with the ROS director-general on the same day.
After some back-and-forth where Pejuang was asked to submit further documents and make changes to its constitution, Amiruddin said he submitted the amended constitution on Oct 2 but did not receive any response.
“I state that the first and/or second respondents never gave written feedback after I contacted them by post. Instead, the Pejuang pro-tem committee had to take the initiative to hold meetings to obtain feedback,” he said.
He added that on Oct 23, he wrote to the ROS for permission to use its logo to set up the party website, and to Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin to urge for a clear decision from the ROS regarding Pejuang’s registration status.
Again, he claimed that Pejuang did not receive any response. This prompted the party to issue a press release on Oct 29 regarding its registration status.
After making its plight public, he said the ROS did not issue a response to Pejuang’s pro-tem committee directly but instead responded to Pejuang via a press release on Oct 30.
It was only after Pejuang countered the ROS through another press release on Nov 2 that the ROS arranged a meeting with the pro-tem committee on Nov 17.
This was to discuss Maszlee Malik’s withdrawal from Pejuang and to replace him with another committee member.
It was after this meeting that the ROS notified Pejuang via email that Amiruddin has been recorded as the party’s secretary and provided Pejuang with a temporary registration number.
Following the meeting, Amiruddin said they also complied with ROS’ request to amend Pejuang’s registration to reflect Maszlee’s departure from the committee by filing the necessary documents on Nov 19.
However, to date, he said there has been no further response from the ROS.
He asserted that committee has legitimate expectations to receive timely responses from the ROS, and it is unreasonable for the ROS to treat Pejuang differently from the speedy approvals that Parti Makkal Sakti and Perikatan Nasional had received. - Mkini
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