KOTA KINABALU: A cross-section of Sabahans are doubtful that the federal government will ever admit to putting into motion a covert operation in the 1980s to re-engineer the demographics of the state in favour of Umno.
Most observers feel the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) recommendation by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms is all hype.
They opined that the Umno-led coalition government, with an eye on the coming general election, is hoping to mollify various sections of the community with the RCI plan.
Project IC or Project M (for former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) is allegedly a covert scheme that was instituted in the 1980s and 1990s to grant identity cards to foreigners on the condition that they voted for Umno and its Barisan Nasional coalition partners.
True to form, during the two-day PSC hearing in Kota Kinabalu beginning Nov 25, save for Umno, all BN and opposition party representatives pressed their case for an RCI into the claim.
The PSC in its preliminary report released on Wednesday adopted the inquiry idea after it was met with a united voice of political leaders, activists and NGOs leaders in Kota Kinabalu last week, where almost everybody, except Umno, raised support for the RCI
‘PSC a smokescreen’
Well-known Sabah consumerism activist, Patrick Sindu, brushed aside talk that the federal government would finally do something to solve the problem of the illegal immigrants population in Sabah, who have been the back-bone of Umno here in the last few general elections.
He sees it as a case of Umno and the BN government shooting itself in the foot if it ever turned its back on the monster they created.
“This PSC thing is just a smokescreen to dupe the people of Sabah into believing that Prime Minister Najib Razak is finally listening to the genuine natives of Sabah who are now under the threat of being sidelined in every aspect of life in their own country,” he told FMT when contacted yesterday.
“If they (BN leaders) are serious about solving this perennial issue, they should have done it long time before as this matter concerned national security … foreigners were issued with Malaysian MyKads and drafted into our electoral rolls by none other than Umno itself.
“This was established by court investigations and very credible witnesses. There are even books that detailed what we call as ‘Projek IC Mahathir’,” he said, repeating allegation that the former Prime Minister was directly involved in the scheme together with then deputy Home Minister Megat Junid Ayub.
“How could they not know?” he added.
RCI is ‘window dressing’
Activist lawyer Peter Marajin also downplayed talk of a RCI as “window dressing by Umno” who he believes is fast losing support around the country.
“They (Umno/BN leaders) will never do it. It is like getting a sharp knife and stabbing it through (their) own heart … a political suicide for Umno. The illegals are their lifeline. Do you think Umno wants to get rid of them?
“Even the PSC itself is a farce … they will not carry out what the public want them to do because again it is not in their interests the PSC’s recommendations are served,” said Marajin, a senior leader in the Sabah Progressive Party, the state’s homegrown opposition.
“When they do (set up and allow an independent inquiry), they will open a pandora box … it will point straight to the root-cause why federal government allowed Sabah to be flooded by illegal immigrants from the southern Philippines and Indonesia, and (why they) gave them MyKads and recruited them into supporting Umno, an alien party to Sabah,” he added.
Dr Chong Eng Leong, a former PBS stalwart but now with PKR and who has written a book on the issue is also skeptical about the PSC.
“Do you think BN will allow an independent inquiry by RCI to investigate their “pengundi hantu” (phantom voters)? They will not act,” he said.
He reminded that thus far no action had been taken against former Umno operatives like Jabar Khan Napi and few others had made statutory declarations about Umno’s involvement in recruiting voters from among the illegal immigrants population in Sabah.
“No action was taken … they could sue if not true but they would not do it. Why?” Chong asked.
Umno’s absence prove of guilt
United Borneo Front (UBF) senior leader from the interior, Dr Nicholas James Guntobon is another who is not convinced that anything will come out of the PSC recommendation.
“They could do it even without PSC. Other inquiries on this matter were done through court cases, related police investigations, ISA papers on detained immigration and national registration officers, private research by activists like Mutalib MD and Dr Chong Eng Leong … they all established that there is link between Umno’s top leaders and this issue.
“A truly independent RCI would definitely lift the lid of this Federal can of worms.
“We welcome the suggestion by PSC but we don’t think an RCI will see the light of the day as it is the “PTI” (pendatang tanpa izin) who put Umno leaders in their current positions.
“Setting up of RCI on PTI is like self-destruction to Umno.
“By not showing up in the PSC and giving suggestion is already proof that they (Umno leaders) cannot commit to it.
“What is sure is this … it is just talk to set-up RCI and nothing else.
“If they do set-up, it will expose possibly the biggest and gravest ever case of treason in this country’s 48 years of existence,” said Guntobon, who is also UBF coordinator for Liawan in Keningau.
By Luke Rintod
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