Bersih has criticised the Registrar of Societies' (ROS) move in invalidating Umno's decision to postpone party polls as being politically motivated.
"The timing of the ROS decision, immediately after Umno withdrew its support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, leads us to believe that it was politically motivated," the electoral watchdog said in a statement today.
It added that the move was an abuse of power by the government to target opponents.
Yesterday, ROS director-general Jasri Kasim, in a letter to Umno, declared the postponement of the party's election invalid as the supreme council's term had expired when it made the decision.
It said the party leadership's term expired on June 30, whereas the decision to defer elections was made on July 7.
The move came hot on the heels of a split among party MPs between a pro-Perikatan Nasional (PN) faction led by party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob and an opposing group led by president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Bersih also said oversight of political parties should be removed from the Home Ministry - which governs the ROS - to an independent Election Commission or Election Enforcement Commission.
It added that this is in line with recommendations made by the Electoral Reform Committee in its report that was submitted to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin last October. - Mkini
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