Seems like a scaremongering title for a relatively minor legal action. But this is Malaysia Boleh, where anything you can think of, can happen, if the powers that be set their mind on it.
'Former Teratai Assemblywoman Jenice Lee Ying Ha today filed a suit against DAP on her expulsion from the party.
Lee, 33, who filed the suit through the legal firm of Messrs. Harjit Sandhu at the Civil High Court registry here, named DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as the defendant.
In the statement of claim, Lee seeks a declaration for her membership in DAP since 2001 to be reinstated immediately, cost and other relief deem fit by the court.
She claimed that her expulsion from the party, which she knew through the media last April 20, was null and void because an investigation by the Registrar of Society (ROS) revealed that the election of the party’s central executive council (CEC) members, held in December last year, was not in accordance with the DAP constitution.
In the recent 13th general election, Lee, the former Selangor DAP publicity secretary, contested as an Independent candidate for the Teratai seat, but lost.' — Bernama
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=109862:ex-teratai-adun-jenice-lee-sues-dap-names-guan-eng-as-defendant&Itemid=2
'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' comes to mind. Is there something more than meets the eye?
Briefly, Jenice Lee was dropped by DAP as a candidate in the GE13, despite having won in GE12, amid some controversies over alleged irregularities or conflict of interest when carrying out her duties as state assemblywoman.
She was peeved as a result of being dropped as candidate; being accused of something which she obviously denied; accused disciplinary committee chairman of not following rules on her dismissal; and claimed her dismissal was null and void because DAP's CEC itself was under probe by ROS.
Without knowing the true story, we cannot be too judgmental on her course of actions, but she cannot avoid facing criticisms for them.
Normally, if someone had been dropped as a candidate by her party, she would accept it without kicking up a fuss. It could be due to her own performance or it could be due to a better candidate or as in Jenice's case, she claimed she was unfairly penalised because of false accusations. Again, she had a choice of accepting the party decision or try and prove her innocence despite the adverse publicity.
When she decided to stand as an independent candidate, claiming she had the support of her constituents, I predicted correctly that the voters would vote for party candidate instead. Having lost dismally (1,832 votes compared with Tiew Way Keng's 23,578 votes, who won with a majority of 13,646 over BN's candidate, Ben Liew Pok Boon), she has decided to sue DAP over her dismissal, in her quest for justice.
Earlier, when she suggested to stand as independent candidate (under threat of sacking) and said she would rejoin the party if she had won, I knew it was unacceptable to the party under such circumstances.
Just like an employee in a company, I find it pointless in taking legal action for re-instatement as a member when relationship had soured beyond repair. At best, it will be a moral victory only, unless the objective is to get compensation.
I noticed she had been given undue press and television coverage by BN-controlled media (as expected when it comes to unfavourable news on any opposition party) and it would appear she is enjoying the publicity for all its worth. However, some people have even suggested that her legal action might have been supported by people friendly to BN, because it is going to be costly for an average person, especially someone who has now lost her job as ADUN.
Is there a link between her case which involved legitimacy of DAP's CEC and DAP's own problems with ROS concerning its CEC election?
It is pretty obvious to the general public that ROS has been selective in finding faults with DAP's internal elections, based on some dubious claims by some members which ballooned from 7 to an incredible 753! Based on reports, especially on allegations by N Gobalakrishnan (who is not even a DAP member, but ex-PKR MP), I get the impression those 753 were all Indian delegates! If so, it was really incredible because the total number of delegates at that congress was only 2576.
DAP leaders believe there is something more sinister and serious than it seems in its problems with ROS. What would have been administrative mistakes, if any, could be twisted to ensure de-registration of the party! This possibility has far-reaching implications which could involve the loss of Penang... something others would gleefully hope for, as the following news report suggests...
Report from The Star:
GEORGE TOWN: Penang may end up electing a new state government if DAP is deregistered by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) following claims of irregularities in the conduct of its party elections last December.
Offering his assessment of the impasse, Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak opined that the DAP can no longer govern the state if it is deregistered.
There are two possible scenarios: first, the Election Commission may have to conduct a fresh state election. Second, Penang may be forced to embrace a state coalition government consisting of PKR and PAS only or with Barisan Nasional through Umno, Rahmad told a press conference here.
He said this in relation to the ongoing investigation by RoS into the alleged claims that several of DAP delegates could not vote in the central election and that there was a mix-up in the tallying of results due to the technical slip-up in using the Microsoft Excel spread sheet.
Rahmad urged RoS to expedite its investigation, as it is unfair for DAP to be placed in a dilemma, especially since the latter is now a dominant part of the state government.
He also questioned RoS why it had allowed DAP to contest in the last general election when in the first place, it did not recognise the CEC election.
Rahmad also urged DAP to settle the matter with RoS first, and not to announce any grand projects such as the undersea tunnel until then.
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2013/6/7/north/13210654&sec=North
Link
'Former Teratai Assemblywoman Jenice Lee Ying Ha today filed a suit against DAP on her expulsion from the party.
Lee, 33, who filed the suit through the legal firm of Messrs. Harjit Sandhu at the Civil High Court registry here, named DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as the defendant.
In the statement of claim, Lee seeks a declaration for her membership in DAP since 2001 to be reinstated immediately, cost and other relief deem fit by the court.
She claimed that her expulsion from the party, which she knew through the media last April 20, was null and void because an investigation by the Registrar of Society (ROS) revealed that the election of the party’s central executive council (CEC) members, held in December last year, was not in accordance with the DAP constitution.
In the recent 13th general election, Lee, the former Selangor DAP publicity secretary, contested as an Independent candidate for the Teratai seat, but lost.' — Bernama
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=109862:ex-teratai-adun-jenice-lee-sues-dap-names-guan-eng-as-defendant&Itemid=2
'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' comes to mind. Is there something more than meets the eye?
Briefly, Jenice Lee was dropped by DAP as a candidate in the GE13, despite having won in GE12, amid some controversies over alleged irregularities or conflict of interest when carrying out her duties as state assemblywoman.
She was peeved as a result of being dropped as candidate; being accused of something which she obviously denied; accused disciplinary committee chairman of not following rules on her dismissal; and claimed her dismissal was null and void because DAP's CEC itself was under probe by ROS.
Without knowing the true story, we cannot be too judgmental on her course of actions, but she cannot avoid facing criticisms for them.
Normally, if someone had been dropped as a candidate by her party, she would accept it without kicking up a fuss. It could be due to her own performance or it could be due to a better candidate or as in Jenice's case, she claimed she was unfairly penalised because of false accusations. Again, she had a choice of accepting the party decision or try and prove her innocence despite the adverse publicity.
When she decided to stand as an independent candidate, claiming she had the support of her constituents, I predicted correctly that the voters would vote for party candidate instead. Having lost dismally (1,832 votes compared with Tiew Way Keng's 23,578 votes, who won with a majority of 13,646 over BN's candidate, Ben Liew Pok Boon), she has decided to sue DAP over her dismissal, in her quest for justice.
Earlier, when she suggested to stand as independent candidate (under threat of sacking) and said she would rejoin the party if she had won, I knew it was unacceptable to the party under such circumstances.
Just like an employee in a company, I find it pointless in taking legal action for re-instatement as a member when relationship had soured beyond repair. At best, it will be a moral victory only, unless the objective is to get compensation.
I noticed she had been given undue press and television coverage by BN-controlled media (as expected when it comes to unfavourable news on any opposition party) and it would appear she is enjoying the publicity for all its worth. However, some people have even suggested that her legal action might have been supported by people friendly to BN, because it is going to be costly for an average person, especially someone who has now lost her job as ADUN.
Is there a link between her case which involved legitimacy of DAP's CEC and DAP's own problems with ROS concerning its CEC election?
It is pretty obvious to the general public that ROS has been selective in finding faults with DAP's internal elections, based on some dubious claims by some members which ballooned from 7 to an incredible 753! Based on reports, especially on allegations by N Gobalakrishnan (who is not even a DAP member, but ex-PKR MP), I get the impression those 753 were all Indian delegates! If so, it was really incredible because the total number of delegates at that congress was only 2576.
DAP leaders believe there is something more sinister and serious than it seems in its problems with ROS. What would have been administrative mistakes, if any, could be twisted to ensure de-registration of the party! This possibility has far-reaching implications which could involve the loss of Penang... something others would gleefully hope for, as the following news report suggests...
Report from The Star:
GEORGE TOWN: Penang may end up electing a new state government if DAP is deregistered by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) following claims of irregularities in the conduct of its party elections last December.
Offering his assessment of the impasse, Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak opined that the DAP can no longer govern the state if it is deregistered.
There are two possible scenarios: first, the Election Commission may have to conduct a fresh state election. Second, Penang may be forced to embrace a state coalition government consisting of PKR and PAS only or with Barisan Nasional through Umno, Rahmad told a press conference here.
He said this in relation to the ongoing investigation by RoS into the alleged claims that several of DAP delegates could not vote in the central election and that there was a mix-up in the tallying of results due to the technical slip-up in using the Microsoft Excel spread sheet.
Rahmad urged RoS to expedite its investigation, as it is unfair for DAP to be placed in a dilemma, especially since the latter is now a dominant part of the state government.
He also questioned RoS why it had allowed DAP to contest in the last general election when in the first place, it did not recognise the CEC election.
Rahmad also urged DAP to settle the matter with RoS first, and not to announce any grand projects such as the undersea tunnel until then.
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2013/6/7/north/13210654&sec=North
2 comments:
Sentiments aside
1)is it true that some DAP delegates do not received the notice of the AGM? We shall wait for the courts to decide
2)if really there was an excel error,a fresh election should have been called.Again let us wait for the courts to decide
In my humble opinion, without Jenice's legal action, DAP's problems arose because of some members' complaints to ROS, so it depended solely on ROS's decision based on their investigations.
With Jenice's legal action, the merit of her case depends on the legality of CEC which in turn depends on how ROS views the alleged non-receipt of notice by eligible delegates and the Excel error as explained.
I think if the ROS took the view in favour of DAP with regards to the notice and error (eg. they were inadvertent administrative errors), then Jenice's complaint that the CEC members were not properly elected would have no basis.
I find the complaints about non-receipt of notice by eligible delegates mischievous simply because those eligible were office bearers of branches who should be aware of such a big event as a national congress. If there is no provision for sending notices by registered post, then even if not properly informed, those delegates should have been aware or could have been notified informally by phone or text messages. It is so obvious to others that ROS is making a mountain out of a molehill as far as this is concerned.
As to the Excel error, only those who stood for CEC election were affected and so far, I have yet to come across any complaints from candidates. Again, it seems mischievous of others to make a hue and cry for this. If the corrected results were acceptable to the candidates and hopefully, ROS, then I do not see the need for fresh election.
Many people are interested to know the outcome of this case because of the power of ROS, who could decide (rightly or wrongly) on the de-registration of a party.
I cannot help but compare with the 'bending over backwards' of ROS, High Court and other relevant authorities when Umno was de-registered and Umno Baru assumed its identity and assets as if nothing happened in between. For a day, Dr Ling Liong Sik was Chairman of BN!
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