The same set of leaders were returned in the fresh election to the DAP Central Executive Committe ordered by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) with Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari elected with a higher majority, proving the party’s critics wrong that it is anti-Malay.
He is the sole Malay to be voted into the 20-member CEC.
He polled 1,132 votes, coming in at 12th spot, as opposed to the elections last December where he barely made the cut with 803 votes.
The soft-spoken 31-year-old had gained instant fame in the last polls because of a technical glitch, which saw him being “elected” to the CEC.
Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong obtained the highest votes at 1,438, followed by party veterans Lim Kit Siang at 1,436 and Karpal Singh (1,432).
Karpal’s son, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, obtained the fourth highest votes with 1,409 votes, with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng closely following with 1,304 votes.
Others voted into the CEC are:
* Chong Chieng Jen (1,294 votes)
* Anthony Loke (1,263 votes)
* Chow Kon Yeow (1,203 votes)
* Fong Kui Lun (1,193)
* Teng Chang Kim (1,164)
* Tong Pua (1,158)
* Teresa Kok (1,127)
* Chong Eng (1,111)
* M. Kulasegaran (1,088)
* Tan Kok wai (1,088)
* Teo Nie Ching (1,081)
* Boo Cheng Hau (961)
* Nga Kor Ming (956)
* Ngeh Koo Ham (809).
Returning officer Dr Ong Kian Ming announced the results at 8.15pm where 1,725 out of 2,576 delegates had this morning voted.
“We took a long time to ensure all tallying of votes was done properly and audited by our auditors,” he said.
The party has been at loggerheads with the RoS after it announced that there was a technical glitch in the December polls.
DAP is holding fresh CEC elections to avoid de-registration following a directive by the RoS on July 30.
The election was ordered by RoS after several disgruntled members claimed that the election in December last year was not properly conducted after the party announced that a tabulation glitch had resulted in the wrong candidate being elected to the CEC.
These disgruntled members also claimed they were not informed of the party polls.
Party national organising secretary Anthony Loke had rebutted the allegations that it did not inform 753 delegates of the party polls and produced evidence of members’ attendance record, signatures and postal receipts which showed notices were sent out.
An international auditing firm was appointed by the party to monitor the counting process to prevent a repeat of wrong tabulation of votes.
An attempt by a former grassroots leader to stop today’s fresh polls was dismissed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday.
An elated Zairil said he was happy with the unexpected results.
“The status quo of leaders remains. It shows we have foiled RoS’ attempts to cause trouble in DAP,” he said.
In thanking delegates for their trust and support, a shocked Liew said he never expected to poll the most votes and beating even party stalwarts.
The newly elected CEC members are now huddled in a meeting to decide the officebearers among themselves. – September 29, 2013.
