Hulu Selangor Umno denies using foreigners for votes

The Umno division says the letterhead appearing on the letter was incorrect. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Umno’s Hulu Selangor division has denied applying for 2,000 foreign workers to be given citizenship thereby enabling them to vote in the constituency for the upcoming general election.

Calling for PKR’s deputy Selangor chief Zuraida Kamaruddin to withdraw the accusation, the Umno division said it had not issued the alleged application letter to the home ministry.

“It does not exist and is completely false. Our checks found that there were mistakes [with the alleged letter].

“The letterhead used was not the one we usually use and the signature of Datuk (Mohamed) Idris (Abu Bakar) is different and the spelling of his name is also wrong,” a Selangor Umno spokesperson told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

Idris, who is Hulu Selangor Umno chief, chaired a state-level meeting yesterday that resolved to demand a retraction from PKR, failing which it would file a defamation suit, said the spokesperson.

In a press conference yesterday morning, Zuraida circulated a document alleging that Umno sent a letter to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein requesting that the 2,000 foreigners be given full citizenship instead of just permanent residence.

The Ampang MP said that the letter, dated March 23, was given to her by a civil servant last Friday.

The application, titled “13th General Election — Seeking approval to obtain citizenships for Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat, Selangor”, contains the Hulu Selangor Umno letterhead and purportedly signed by the party’s division chief Datuk Idris Abu Bakar.

However, the Umno spokesperson said that Idris usually used his full name “Datuk Hj Mohamed Idris Hj Abu Bakar”, and not just “Datuk Hj Idris Abu Bakar.”

The spokesperson added that the Umno division would make a police report on Zuraida’s claims.

The document said that Umno had “identified and validated” a list of prospective voters with permanent resident (PR) status here “who can help BN in Hulu Selangor for the 13th general election”.

“Attached herewith is a list of names of those who can become voters in Hulu Selangor and we have also conducted a strict screening of each individual to ensure they are free from any criminal or drug charges or follow any dangerous or misguided ideology.

“They are students and entrepreneurs, and together they can help develop the country towards becoming more progressive, in addition to helping BN win every election, especially the coming 13th general election.

“With this, it is hoped that Datuk Seri can give an early approval so that we are able to proceed with the application smoothly,” the letter read.

Hulu Selangor is presently held by BN’s P. Kamalanathan.

The MIC leader scored an upset when he successfully beat former PKR leader Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for the seat during the April 2010 by-election by securing 24,997 votes to Zaid’s 23,272, winning with a 1,725-vote majority.

The seat was previously held by PKR’s Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad who died on March 25 last year, paving the way for the by-election.

The PKR man had wrested the seat from MIC’s Datuk G. Palanivel, who is now party’s president, with a wafer thin 198-vote majority during the political tsunami of Elections 2008.