Be more convincing, minister told

PAS censures the home minister for providing an unconvincing answer on the allegation of bus-loads of foreigners granted citizenship.

KUALA LUMPUR: PAS has called on Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to give a more “convincing” answer over the allegation that 240 foreigners were taken in buses to a resort near Putrajaya and given Malaysian citizenships.

This followed Hishammuddin’s comments last week that he had no knowledge of the incident.

While rejecting the allegation, the minister also said that it was part of the many “politically motivated” allegations against the government with regard to the electoral roll.

Hishammuddin said the newly-formed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform would be the perfect platform to discuss such allegations.

‘Why must he wait?’

PAS today took him to task, saying that as a minister, Hishammuddin need not wait to give his explanation over the matter.

“As a minister, why does he have to wait? He can make a statement outside or inside Parliament.

“He does not have to wait for the PSC,” said PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub.

He said this just before accepting a memorandum from PAS Youth. The party wing had constantly highlighted irregularities in the electoral roll.

Salahuddin said that he would pass the memorandum to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz by the end of the day.

The allegation over the 240 foreigners was brought up by PAS two weeks ago.

It was alleged that the foreigners, mostly Indonesians and Bangladeshis, were ferried in six buses from Johor on Oct 12.

It was alleged that they were actually on their way to Putrajaya to receive their citizenship status to allow them to vote in the coming general election.

PAS party workers had tried to corner the buses but were eventually locked out of the resort near Kampung Bukit Dugang in Bangi.

Citing an eye-witness’ account, PAS also alleged that an officer with the National Registration Department (NRD) gave a briefing in the buses.

They also claimed that an oath was taken to pledge loyalty to the ruling government.

NRD denied that it was involved in the operation while the police also dismissed the allegation, saying that those in the buses were attending an entrepreneurship course at the holiday resort.

‘Code 71 and clone voters’

The memorandum also expressed concern over “code 71″.

The contention is that “code 71″ is not an official code in NRD’s list.

However, in the Election Commission’s second quarter draft roll, PAS alleged that as many as 170,818 voters were registered under “code 71″.

They raised doubts over the birthplaces of these voters and expressed fear of the electoral roll being manipulated in favour of Barisan Nasional.

They also noted that the number of voters registered under “code 71″ is higher in Pakatan Rakyat-led states.

Another issue highlighted was the existence of “clone voters”.

EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had described this as a “technical glitch”.

More recently, he admitted that almost 40,000 names in the electoral roll were doubtful and that the names would be on display on its website.

PAS Youth, which remains unconvinced, repeated its call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be established to investigate the irregularities.

Its chief Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi claimed that by giving citizenship easily to foreigners, the government was jeopardising the country’s “dignity and security”.