Double standard treatment of the case of UMNO/BN as illegal political parties is the last straw why the UMNO/BN must be replaced by Pakatan Harapan as Malaysian and Johore state governments on May 9

The double standard treatment of the case of UMNO/BN as illegal political parties is the last straw why the UMNO/BN must be replaced by Pakatan Harapan as the Malaysian Government in Putrajaya and Johore government in Nusajaya in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

On the eve of dissolution of Parliament on April 7, 2018, PPBM (Bersatu) was issued with a 30-day provisional dissolution order by the UMNO/BN Government through the Registrar of Societies (RoS), forbidding Bersatu from holding any political activities.

Where were the concepts of justice, good governance and the rule of law when in fact, it was UMNO/Barisan Nasional which should be issued with a provision dissolution order by the Registrar of Societies as UMNO had violated its own party constitution on election of UMNO Supreme Council elections?

DAP was harassed for five years on the baseless ground that the DAP was an illegal political party based on the false and baseless premise that our Central Executive Committee elections in December 2012 was improper and defective, when it was in fact fully proper, legal and in accordance with the DAP constitution.

Now, Bersatu is slapped with a 30-day provisional dissolution order when it is UMNO/BN which should now be declared as illegal political parties under the Societies Act 1966.

Under Clause 10 of the UMNO party constitution, UMNO is required to hold UMNO Supreme Council elections once every three years, but the UMNO Supreme Council has the power to give an 18-month extension under special circumstances, like preparing for the 14th General Election.

The last UMNO triennial elections were held on Oct. 20, 2013, which means that UMNO Supreme Council elections must be held by Oct. 19, 2016 to comply with the three-year requirement or by April 19, 2018, if there is a 18-month extension decided by the UMNO Supreme Council.

There was however no UMNO Supreme Council elections by April 19, 2018, and this fatal violation of the UMNO Constitution cannot be cured, overcome or rescued in any manner by the Registrar of Societies.

I have studied Section 3A of the Societies Act, 1966, which had been quoted by the UMNO Secretary-General Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor as vesting powers on the Registrar of Societies to give a further year-long extension till April 19, 2019 to hold UMNO Supreme Council elections.

Does Tengku Adnan understand English or Bahasa Malaysia, as it is very plain that Section 3A of the Societies Act does not give the Registrar of Societies any such powers.

This means that since last Friday, April 20, 2018, UMNO and Barisan Nasional have become illegal political parties since and the Barisan Nasional logo of daching cannot be used in the 14th General Election Nomination Day next Saturday on April 28, 2018.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said there is nothing wrong with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) granting Umno a second extension until 2019 to hold the party elections, arguing the laws are only made by humans, not God.

I expect such a preposterous argument to come from an illiterates or ignoramus party hack, and it is most shocking that it has come from a trained lawyer like Nazri.

Yes, the Societies Act is a man-made law and not God’s law but any amendment to such man-made law must go through the proper process – in this case, by Parliament.

If the Societies Act does not give the Registrar of Societies powers to extend UMNO Supreme Council elections beyond April 20, 2018, why is Nazri demanding that UMNO/BN government should be treated as if it is God, capable of amending laws at its whim and fancy, without having to go first to Parliament?

If this is the case, why hold general elections to elect a Parliament, when the UMNO/BN government has God-like powers to amend laws without any parliamentary debate and approval?

The double-standard treatment in the case of UMNO/BN as illegal political parties, making Parliament superfluous by granting Najib God-like powers to change laws as and when he likes, is the last straw why 15 million Malaysian voters on May 9 should elect Pakatan Harapan to replace UMNO/BN to be the Malaysian and Johore governments, before Malaysia is regarded by the world as a rogue state apart from being a kleptocratic state.

(Speech by Lim Kit Siang at Pakatan Harapan ceramah at Taman University, Skudai on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 10.30 pm)