PUTRAJAYA: Two DAP delegates today urged the party to hold its upcoming Central Executive Committee (CEC) election through a national congress and not a special congress.
Taman Ehsan, Klang DAP vice-president L. Paneerselvam said the decision to hold it through a special congress was an abrupt one and done without consulting the party's delegates.
Paneerselvam and former DAP Bagan Luar Branch president G. Asoghan was met after submitting a memorandum to representatives of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and Home Ministry to intervene and resolve the issue.
“The last CEC election was done based on a national congress. Why is the re-election done through special congress? he asked.
“We also want to know why RoS has agreed to this. As delegates, we deserve to know why the sudden change and what is the rationale behind it,” said Paneerselvam.
He also noted that Clause 8, Article 8 of the DAP Constitution stipulates that a special congress is held to discuss specific matters and not for election purposes.
“It is clearly stated in the constitution that elections should not be held through special congress.
“Have there been any amendments in the constitution which now allows election to be done through special congress? If yes, then why weren't the delegates informed?” he asked.
Meanwhile. Asoghan questioned DAP’s failure to provide at least a 10-week notice to notify its members of the CEC re-election, which he said was required under the party’s constitution.
“We have delegates from all over the country. We need the 10-week period to be able to reach out to them,” he added.
He also demanded DAP publish a list of 2,576 party members who are still alive and those who have pulled out from the election.
“The delegates will not accept (national organising secretary) Anthony Loke's statement that he had received 500 letters from the delegates that they would not be voting in the CEC election.
“In order to ensure that the CEC election is carried out in accordance with the party's constitution, we urge the RoS to monitor the party including the list of valid delegates,” he said.
Last week, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had announced that the CEC re-election will be held on Nov 12 at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC), Shah Alam.
Last June, RoS director-general Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah had instructed DAP to hold a re-election of the party’s CEC, as the election of CEC members and key positions via a re-election on Sept 29, 2013 was deemed unlawful.
RoS said last month that the re-election would be based on the 2012 delegates list.