Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary – General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, when officiating the opening of the Cheras Road Constituency Office and Branch in Sungei Besi Parliamentary Constituency on Monday, 28.8.1978 at 7 p.m.
DAP to submit over ten election petitions to challenge disqualification of DAP Parliamentary and State Assembly candidates
The DAP Special Committee to challenge the disqualification of DAP Parliamentary and State Assembly candidates on Nomination Day, June 21 met in Penang last Saturday, and decided to file over ten election petitions to challenge disqualification of DAP candidates on Nomination Day.
The election petitions will have to be filed within 21 days on the date of gazette of the election results, which was on August 17. This means that the election petitions must be filed by the first week of September.
Among the seats which we will be challenging will be Tan Sri Chong Hong Nyan’s election as MP for Batu Berendam, for the DAP candidate for Batu Berendam was wrongly disqualified.
DAP Forms a National Campaign for Registration of Voters
During the last general elections, as in previous general elections, many youngsters in large numbers find that they are not qualified to vote because they are not registered on the electoral roll.
The country has a most unsatisfactory voter’s registration system. The whole object of the voters’ registration exercise should be to enable every eligible voter to be put on the electoral register, and the most efficient way to do this is to introduce compulsory voters’ registration. For reasons bewt known to the Elections Commission and the Barisan Nasional Government, they have refused to introduce this simple compulsory and automatic registration system.
In view of this, the DAP has decided to form a permanent National Campaign for the Registration of Voters – with the object of ensuring that the maximum number of eligible voters are registered on the electoral roll. This National Campaign for Registration of Voters will be under the chairmanship of Sdr. Lim Cho Hock, DAP Deputy Secretary – General. The Secretary of this DAP National Campaign for Registration of Voters will be Sdr. Lee Leam Thye, MP for KL Bandar.
The full composition of the National Campaign for Registration of Voters will be announced by Sdr. Lim Cho Hock in the near future, and the National Campaign will be responsigle for working out details to carry the message to every eligible voter of the importance of registering as a voter and to exercise their sacred democratic right to cast their vote.