Admitting that 10 weeks notice is required according to the party’s constitution, Loke said they had no choice now, but that it would still be okay.
“Usually, in a normal congress 10 weeks is required, but in the case of the special congress, these exemptions are acceptable.
“There is a provision in the party’s constitution that allows for the CEC to be held with a special congress,” Loke told reporters at the DAP headquarters here.
He pointed out that the 14-day term was based on a notice sent by RoS to the party.
“So if you have any queries take it up with RoS,” he said.
On Oct 23, a former DAP branch leader had claimed the party violated its constitution by having the re-election of the party’s CEC through a special congress.
Former Ehsan branch chairman L Pannerselvam said that nowhere was it mentioned in DAP’s party constitution that party CEC elections can be held in a special congress.
He said as per the DAP’s constitution, central elections should be held in a national congress with a 10-week prior notice given to branches and delegates.
“If DAP insists to hold fresh polls on Nov 12 in a special congress, they should change their party constitution first,” he said.
Pannerselvam said Clause VIII Article 8 of the party constitution clearly states that a special congress can only be held to discuss party matters, and not to have the re-election.
The DAP’s re-election is set to take place at 10am at the Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam (IDCC) in Selangor on Nov 12.
Independent auditors Grant Thornton will be carrying out the re-election process after being approved by RoS on Sept 21.
The letters of notification on the DAP re-election has been sent out to 2,576 delegates from the 2012 CEC elections who were eligible to attend and vote at the last Party National Congress held on Dec 15 and 16, 2012.
The dispute over DAP’s 2012 party elections was revived in July, three years after the matter was thought to have been settled between the party and RoS.
On July 7, the RoS issued a statement saying it had instructed DAP to hold a fresh election for its CEC, having decided that DAP’s earlier re-election, held on Sept 29, 2013, was not in accordance with the law.
“RoS believes the appointment of the CEC members as well as the main position holders through that re-election, is illegal.
“The re-election should be based on the list of delegates entitled to attend and vote for DAP’s CEC elections dated Dec 15, 2012, involving 2,576 delegates from 865 branches,” RoS director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah said in the statement.
The whole issue with the dispute over DAP’s last party elections started more than four years ago, less than three weeks before the 13th general election (GE13), which was held on May 5, 2013.
On April 17, 2013, the RoS had sent a letter to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng stating that it did not recognise DAP’s CEC which had been elected during the party elections the year before.
The then RoS director-general, Abdul Rahman Othman, said the non-recognition was due to the alleged dispute surrounding the party polls.
“Until the disputed matters are resolved, the ROS under Section 3A of the Societies Act does not recognize the office bearers in DAP, formed by the CEC on Dec 15, 2012,” he had said, adding that DAP faced the risk of being de-registered.
However, the RoS issued another letter on April 19 informing that the party would be allowed to use its rocket symbol in GE13.
A re-election of the CEC was eventually carried out by the DAP on Sept 29, 2013, but that too ran into problems, with the RoS still refusing to recognise the CEC.
Then, on Jan 22, 2014, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng filed a judicial review application on behalf of the party, saying the RoS had no power under the Societies Act 1966 to refuse the recognition of the CEC which was re-elected on Sept 29, 2013.
DAP decided to drop the application on Sept 23, 2014, following the RoS’ recognition of the re-elected CEC and its stand that statements on the matter were merely advice and not legally binding.