“We dispute the legality of the notice sent to us. Our conclusion is that we are still a functioning party,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters here tonight, Mahathir said one of the discrepancies was that the letter was not sent to the person addressed.
“They know we are based here and they have come here but they addressed the letter to the wrong address, some place in Damansara.
“RoS officers also did not send the letter to the party secretary or other officers of the party.
“I did not receive any notice except later when it was faxed to me by our own staff.”
He said even the order for the party to be temporarily dissolved was confusing.
“This means we are not deregistered yet. We are assuming we can still function for 30 days while we make an appeal.”
Mahathir said PPBM will first appeal to the home minister and if the appeal is rejected, the party will then make an appeal through the courts.
“In the process of law, if the appeal is rejected, we have a chance to make another appeal.”
‘RoS is in breach of the law’
When asked by reporters what PPBM will do if RoS is adamant in not allowing the party to carry out its activities, Mahathir threatened to spread the news across the globe.
“We can do it now. We can advertise to the whole world that the RoS is in breach of the law and that this country has become lawless.”
RoS today slapped a “provisional dissolution” on PPBM, citing the party’s failure to furnish documents and details within the stipulated period.
The party, formed in 2016 after the fallout between Prime Minister Najib Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, has been given a month to furnish more documents to RoS, failing which it could be permanently deregistered.
This followed an earlier notice by RoS to submit minutes of its branch, divisional and central leadership meetings, as part of its investigation into hundreds of complaints filed by PPBM members.
Also present at today’s press conference were PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin, deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir and Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.
PPBM deregistration: Gobind mulls citing RoS for contempt of court