Home Coalitions Clean and Fair Elections RoS must maintain fairness; Societies Act must be revamped

RoS must maintain fairness; Societies Act must be revamped

Graphic: freemalaysiatoday.com

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Bersih 2.0 condemns most vehemently the actions of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) in dissolving Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) temporarily (for a total period of 30 days), on the brink of the coming general election.

According to RoS chief director Surayati Ibrahim, PPBM would be facing a complete dissolution if they fail to provide full details, information and documents required, as is stated under Section 14(2) of the Societies Act 1966.

The RoS’ actions are clearly politically motivated, coming two days before the dissolution of Parliament, after which a caretaker government will take over the reins and as such will not be able to make such far-reaching decisions.

This is not the first time that the RoS has taken such drastic actions towards political parties led by the opposition. Indeed, even non-governmental organisations have repeatedly fallen prey to an unfair and prejudiced system.

Prior to this, the Democratic Cation Party (DAP) was also victimised by the RoS for five years. The same tactic was used during the 2013 general election. The Socialist Party of Malaysia’s (PSM) registration application was denied for 10 years.

Bersih 2.0 would like to stress here that Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees the right of every individual to form associations and this right needs to be upheld by all parties – including the RoS.

The RoS needs to stop acting as an apparatus of the ruling coalition and act without fear or favour from any party. The basic principle of an election is to allow any and all parties to contest on a level playing field. Indeed, the registration and handling of political parties should be placed under the supervision of an independent Electoral Commission and not the RoS, who comes under the ambit of the Home Ministry.

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Once again, Bersih 2.0 reiterates the importance of institutional reforms, and we demand that the rules and regulations embodied in the Societies Act 1966 be reviewed so that all parties, whether political parties or civil society groups, are able to operate without much difficulty and will be freed from the victimisation in the political game by any political party that comes into power.

Bersih 2.0 calls for the restrictions and temporary dissolution of PPBM to be revoked so that the party will be allowed to operate as usual in the lead up to the general Elections.

#KeluarMengundi
#KalahkanPencuri

Bersih 2.0 steering committee

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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Keat Lee
9 Apr 2018 1.47pm

All public institutions, not only the ROS, must not only be fair, they must remain apolitical!!! No?🤔🤔🤔

Yong Kuang Lim
9 Apr 2018 12.17pm

A purely adminstrative function had been turned into a political weapon – all because Malaysians are naive, generally follow & do not question authorities

Maureen Tan
9 Apr 2018 8.25am

ROS is just an administrative body .. it is terrible when the heads get political. How can u serve in this country when yiur atttude is so bad?

Lau Chengkeat
9 Apr 2018 12.50am

Mas depan ros Tak begitu Rosy after ge14!

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