Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today revealed that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) has finally approved Parti Pejuang Tanah Air's (Pejuang) registration as a formal political party.
This after a battle in the courts since last year.
The ROS previously refused to entertain Pejuang's application but the Kuala Lumpur High Court on June 25 ordered the Home Ministry to make a decision within 14 days.
The government approved the registration today which is also the last day of the 14-day deadline.
"The approval came from the (home) minister and the Registrar of Societies director," Mahathir told a virtual press conference today.
Mahathir thanked the government for finally approving the registration.
"We didn't want to cause problems, we only went through the legal process.
"There was no reason why we couldn't be registered. Finally, Pejuang is registered," he said.
Mahathir added that those who were interested to join the party could now apply to do so.
Pejuang has four MPs including Mahathir who represents Langkawi.
Muda urges its registration
Meanwhile, Parti Ikatan Demokratik (Muda) urged the ROS to expedite its own application to be a political party too.
Muda secretary-general Amir Abdul Hadi said while it welcomed the ROS decision to approve Pejuang’s application, it had taken a lengthy period and a court battle to achieve it.
It urged for the Societies Act 1966 to be reformed in line with the Human Rights Commission’s (Suhakam) recommendations.
In its current form, the law does not specify a time frame for approving political party registrations and gives the home minister wide-ranging power over the matter.
It also does not require the ROS to provides any reason for rejecting an application, he said. - Mkini
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