Political party cap: ROS not above constitution, says HRP

While the Registrar of Societies (ROS) wields power over registration and conduct of societies, it cannot prohibit formation of new political parties said the Human Rights Party (HRP).

"They cannot do this. This goes against the Federal Constitution which guarantees the right of association," protested its information chief S Jayathas (left) when contacted today.

Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees Malaysians the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association.

The government, however has been known to impose statutory limits on such freedoms citing "in the interest of security" or "public order" as justification.

He was responding to a newspaper report today that the regulatory body had issued recommendations that the number of political parties in Malaysia be capped at 33.

"Who is the ROS? They are not above the constitution. They should be protecting and upholding the constitution," argued Jayathas. He likened the ROS recommendations to a dictatorial edict.
‘ROS similar to Junta’

"Everybody is moving forward but the ROS is moving backwards. It is like the controls imposed by a Junta (military) government," accused the Indian political leader.
English daily New Straits Times reported on the ROS recommendation to impose a moratorium on new approvals of political parties.

Registrar Abdul Rahman Othman said that the cap would spare the nation from too much "draining politicking".

"Political stability is important and the freezing of new applications will give us better focus on nation building, to an extent, free us from in-house power struggles," he said in the NST report.
However more than just freezing new applications, the registrar said that in his view all outstanding applications and new ones should instead be rejected outright.

"To me there is no need to approve even one more new party," said the registrar who argued that as a public person representing the government he has a right to determine what is best.

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