The Registrar of Societies (RoS) has cut short the registration process for welfare bodies to five days compared to between three and six months previously.

Its director-general Abdul Rahman Othman said RoS offices in the states had been given the power to approve the registration of such bodies since Feb 16.

"The state offices know better about these associations, there is no need for us to hold their registration applications.
"Furthermore, they are doing it for welfare, we should facilitate the process," he told reporters in Putrajaya.

Abdul Rahman said however that the offer was not applicable to political parties.

"There are already 33 political parties registered with the RoS.

"We feel that 33 is enough," he said, adding that there were currently 25 applications to register political parties pending since 2008.

There are 105,276 non-governmental organisations and political parties registered with the ROS at the moment.

- Bernama