Projek IC must be a term of reference for PSC: Jeffrey

The proposed parliamentary select committee on electoral reform must include the controversial 'Projek IC' as one of its terms of reference if the government is sincere about cleaning up the country's electoral system.

Supposedly sanctioned by the federal government in the run-up to the 1994 Sabah state election,'Projek IC' was to convert illegal immigrants into registered voters.

This long-standing issue, United Borneo Front (UBF) founder Jeffrey Kitingan (right) said today, has to be included in the review of Malaysia's electoral system in interest of Sabahans.

The enigmatic politician-turned-activist said 'yes' when asked if the larger issue of Sabah's burgeoning illegal immigrant population and the commensurate increase in the state's citizens should be included as well.

Jeffrey, a fomer vice-president of PKR, said in response to questions from Malaysiakini that civil society groups, such as the UBF that he launched last December, should be given a greater role to play in helping the committee fulfil its responsibilities.

The twin issues of illegal immigrants and phantom voters have long been a sore point among Sabahans, with opposition supporters blaming former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed for allegedly being the mastermind of 'Projek IC'.

Caused fall of PBS government

The dubious project is said to have played a major role in the fall of the PBS state government in 1994 - nine years after the party ousted the Berjaya government and left the BN coalition.

During that year's state polls, 'Projek IC' was blamed for whittling down PBS' hold on the state assembly to a slim majority of two seats over the BN. The killing blow came after a string of defections from PBS to the BN.

PBS, still led by its founding president and Jeffrey's elder brother, Joseph Pairin Kitingan (left), has since returned to the BN fold.

However, but to many PBS members and Sabahans at large, the legacy of 'Projek IC' remains, with constant discoveries of allegedly dubious identities on the state electoral roll and shifting of voters among the many complaints.

SAPP's Sepanggar MP Eric Majimbun was ambivalent over Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's recent announcement of the committee's formation, pointing out that past experience indicated that it could end up as mere bluster.

Having sat on the now-disbanded Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity, formed during previous Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, Eric said he had seen first-hand how it could end up being disbanded with no results, regardless of the quality of the discussions and recommendations.

Committee must be 'serious'

"Let them form the committee first. They must take it very seriously and not allow it to become like (Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister) Tan Sri (Bernard) Dompok's committee. We don't want a recurrence of that," he said.

"I was one of those on the committee. We spent a lot of time in meetings, but eventually it was a waste of a lot of time and money as nothing came out of it," said Eric (right), who is also SAPP deputy president.

DAP's Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu was even more sceptical about how far the government would be willing to pursue electoral reforms, echoing opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's view that the select committee was merely adelaying tactic.

"This is just a delaying tactic. (Najib) is simply saying 'you want it, I form it'. But when they are going to do, we don't know.

"They (the government) have already said they will only form it when Parliament reconvenes on Oct 3, and the Minister (in the Prime Minister's Department), Nazri (Aziz) himself said it might take two years.

Things won't change, unless you change the government," Hiew said.

Nazri recently said that the committee would "work on the basis" of Parliament's current term expiring only in 2013, though he gave his assurance that the government would implement the proposed committee's recommendations as soon as possible.