PUTRAJAYA: The Registrar of Societies (RoS) has expressed doubts over the legitimacy of the New Generation Party (NewGen Party)'s extraordinary general meeting, which was supposedly conducted on March 30, and saw the appointment of new leaders.
RoS’ director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah said investigations into the so-called EGM’s minutes raised suspicions, because the party's headquarters, which is said to be located in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, does not exist.
"When we looked through the documents submitted to us on March 31, including the minutes and membership applications for the newly-named party, we found many questionable discrepancies.
"Firstly, the EGM was conducted at 8pm on March 30, and we received the documents regarding the meeting (as early as) the next day.
"Secondly, two committee members (were found to have) false details, based on their identification cards. Checks with the National Registration Department (NRD) showed that one of them does not exist, and the other's details are false," he told reporters during a press conference today.
It is understood that NewGen Party’s secretary-general, S. Gobi Krishnan, had submitted the EGM documents on March 31, including details on the naming of Datuk Mohamed Ezam Nor as the new president and Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan as deputy president.
“(To seek clarification), we sent them a registered letter seeking an explanation. However, that letter was returned to the RoS,” Razin said.
"We sent our officers to check the premises as listed in the report to determine if the party was actually operating there, and our officers only found a ceramic tiles shop which has been operating there for more than a year.
"The weird thing is that, this is the same address given when the party was first registered in 2013," he added.
Razin stressed that legal action could be taken against the party, including slapping them with a fine of not more than RM2,000, under Section 54 (A) of the Societies Act 1966, for providing false information.
The RoS said it will issue a show-cause letter to seek an explanation on the matter.
"If they fail to provide explanations, or their explanations are unreasonable, we will cancel the party's registration,” he added.
On another matter, Razin said the party can be only renamed upon getting the RoS' approval.
"Since the RoS has yet to approve the application to rename the party, we only recognise Datuk G Kumaar Aaman as the rightful president.
"Therefore, no activity or event can be carried out under the new name of the party," he stressed.