 DAP chairman Karpal Singh has resigned as party chairman following his conviction under the Sedition Act. The party’s deputy Tan Kok Wai will assume his position pending the appeal. Under Section 9A(1)(b) of the Societies Act, a person is disqualified from being and shall not become or remain an office-bearer, adviser or employer of a registered society, if he or she is convicted of any offence and fined not less than RM2,000 or jailed not less than a year. Karpal said he would "demean himself by applying for an exemption from the Registrar of Societies to allow him to retain his post with the present conviction.” "I will leave it to the court to decide on the matter. "Under the circumstances (of the conviction), I am publicly announcing that I am, pending my appeal to the Court of Appeal against the conviction and sentence that has been filed, stepping aside as chairperson of DAP. "Meanwhile, the deputy chairperson Tan Kok Wai will be acting chairperson," he said in a statement today. Karpal was fined RM4,000 by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on March 11 under Secrion 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, which he describes as an "outdated and irrelevant legislation that is 66 yers old and a sad relic of British colonialism". Karpal, who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, was found guilty of sedition or questioning the removal of Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak menteri besar by the Sultan of Perak in February 2009. Under the Federal Constitution, he will also be disqualified as a member of the Dewan Rakyat and lose his parliamentary seat if his appeal is unsuccessful. Karpal is not the only Pakatan Rakyat MP facing the risk of losing his seat as opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is his client, is also on the same boat. Anwar was sentenced to five years’ jail on March 7 when the Appeal Court overturned a High Court decision to acquit him of sodomy in January 2012. Both leaders are appealing the decisions. "In the light of my conviction and sentence and that of Anwar, the Dewan Rakyat has to act under Article 53(1) of the Federal Constitution. "It means both of us cannot stand disqualified until such a time as the courts finally decide on our appeals," Karpal said. Under Article 53, the Dewan Rakyat will postpone its decision (regarding a convicted MP) in order to allow any proceedings that may affect the decision, including proceedings for the removal of the disqualification. Karpal’s reluctance to write to the Registrar of Societies is understandable as there has been bad blood between DAP and the RoS since December 2012 after the registrar refused to acknowledge the party's elected central committee following allegations of discrepancies in the tallying of votes. DAP held a re-election last September to avoid risk of being deregistered but the RoS has not acknowledged the committee. In January this year, the party decided to sue the RoS for its alleged politically motivated persecution. – March 29, 2014. TMI
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