The Upko president added that it was also more appropriate for the EC to replace the Registrar of Societies (RoS) in doing so, as it was “more independent”.

“This is because the RoS is directly under the purview of the home minister,” he said, adding, however, that he had reservations about the level of autonomy that the EC enjoys too.

“The EC is seen as an independent agency, but it is actually not. It does face executive interference.

“For example, we have seen how the gerrymandering allegedly committed by the EC favours the ruling government,” Tangau said in a webinar tonight co-organised by the Wisdom Foundation and Bersih 2.0.

He then accused the RoS of “acting arbitrarily” in rejecting Muda’s bid to register as a political party.

“When a government agency acts arbitrarily, it is proof of blatant misuse of power,” he said.

The RoS rejected Muda’s registration in January but did not provide any specific reason for the decision.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept 21 however, allowed Muda to proceed with a judicial review application against the government’s refusal to register it as a political party.

The hearing for the judicial review application has been set for Dec 14.

Opposition MPs Ong Kian Ming (Bangi) and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar) have previously called for the EC to take over the responsibility of registering political parties from the RoS to prevent partisan executive interference from derailing the parties’ efforts to get themselves registered.