As expected, Najib unveils toothless Sabah RCI timed to ensure BN gets safely past GE-13 first

Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced an 8-point terms of reference for a long-awaited Royal Commission of Inquiry into Sabah's illegal migrants problem, but he failed to stem the tide of indignation sweeping through the state, with the people still deeply angered by his federal government's perceived bad faith towards them through the decades.

"We fear it is another eyewash. Most of the panel members are staunch BN supporters who have worked as top civil servants. They will surely try to show their gratitude to Najib and Mahathir," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"The other factor is the 6-months time-frame. We believed the RCI was intentionally delayed so as to allow Najib and BN to dodge the outcome of the RCI findings until after the 13th general election. I think we all know GE-13 will surely be called within these 6 months."

Eyewash like the Lingam and Teoh Beng Hock RCIs

At a press conference in the Umno headquarters in Kota Kinabalu, Najib said the RCI would be given 6 months to investigate allegations that foreigners had been unlawfully awarded Malaysian identity cards.

Many Sabahans have accused former premier Mahathir Mohamad of conferring either citizenship or permanent residency to the illegals in this manner in exchange for them promising to vote for the BN during elections.

Najib, who flew in today ahead of Sunday's mammoth rally in Kota Marudu where Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is due to speak, said the RCI would also probe whether the Sabah illegals had been given citizenship and was this done legally.

“The formation of this RCI proves the federal government’s commitment to investigate the issues surrounding the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah. The government hopes that Sabahans will benefit from this inquiry and join the government in seeking the best strategy and method to solve the problem,” Najib told reporters (scroll below for the RCI's 8 terms of reference).

The five-member RCI panel will be chaired by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Chim Lip Kiong and will comprise four commissioners ― former Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor Prof Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, former Sabah Attorney-General Herman J Luping, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation deputy chairman and former Kuala Lumpur police chief Henry Poy-Wu, and former Sabah State Secretary Kee Mustafa.

RCI won't solve core problem of INFLUX

Like Tian, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang too slammed Najib for the tepid and 'insincere' RCI, which he doubts could do much to resolve the four-decades-old problem.

Indeed, Sabahans have long protested illegal migrants problem, which has brought on widespread social and economic misery.

Overcrowding, rising crime, shortage of housing and facilities, fighting for jobs and educational opportunities amid an economic pie shrunk by political corruption have kept Sabah one of the poorest of Malaysia's 13 states despite it owning massive oil and timber wealth.

"No RCI as Sabah RCIII (Illegal Immigrants) assailed with such ocean of public skepticism, doubt it is bona fide solution to four-decades-old problem. Can RCI probe Project M n call up Mahathir as star-witness?  Can RCI probe those responsible for massive issue of false documents?  Why has PM taken six months to finalise eight RCI terms of reference? BN rejected my Sabah RCI motion in Parliament in 2008 - why?" said Kit Siang in a statement.

"The scope of the RCI is very limited. Mostly on how illegal immigrants became voters. It won't solve the core problem of influx," said Tian.

Revolt in Sabah BN

The embattled Najib is under tremendous pressure to stem a mass revolt within the Sabah BN ranks after two senior leaders recently quit to join the Sabah Reform Front - a movement to unite local leaders to fight for change in the impoverished state.

A third senior BN leader is expected to announce his intention to join the Sabah Reform Front at the Kota Marudu rally, where Anwar is the guest of honor. The Sabah movement has aligned itself to Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat, which currently forms the federal Opposition and governs 4 of the country's 13 states.

Lajim Ukin, an Umno Supreme Council member and the MP for Beaufort, had sent a shudder through the BN when he handed in his resignation last month. He is expected to contest under the PAS flag during GE-13.

Wilfrid Bumburing, the Upko deputy president and MP for Tuaran, was the other leader who left Upko and BN to form Sabah Reform Front.

“What Dr Mahathir did was a blatant betrayal to the people of Sabah and Sarawak on that promise,” Bumburing said in response to "insensitive comments" made by Mahathir Mohamad in a bid perceived as being aimed to help blunt the impact of Najib's vague terms of reference.

Indeed, few Sabahans really held much hope that Najib would order a thorough probe as it is Mahathir who allegedly masterminded the Project M or Project IC in the 1980s. The objective was to pad the BN's voter bank with the illegals so as to ensure the coalition could remain in control of the federal government.

"Would Najib dare to do anything that could get Mahathir arrested? Look at the Lingam tape RCI, where the panel recommended prosecution. Yet Mahathir and all the others involved got away with the Attorney General refusing to take further action. The same thing will happen in the Sabah RCI as it also happened in the Teoh Beng Hock RCI," said Tian.

It's OK, they deserved citizenship - defends Dr M

Mahathir intimated as much in his blog. In a posting earlier this week, he justified his actions by insisting the illegals deserved to be made citizens.

“On the basis of length of stay and mastering of the national language, they qualify to be citizens of this country. And so they acquired citizenship. By comparison we have many citizens who cannot speak the national language who were accepted as citizens," said Mahathir.

“So why cannot the migrants to Sabah who have all these qualifications be accepted as citizens? The objections for them being accepted seem to be political."

A 2010 census of Sabah’s population shows an extraordinary 390-per cent increase from 636, 431 citizens in 1970 to 3,120,040 citizens in 2010 ― more than double the national population growth of just 164 per cent. Of the 3.12 million Sabahans today, reports have estimated that 27 per cent are foreigners.

“I tell you, it has come to stage when these PTIs (‘pendatang tanpa izin’ or illegal immigrants) dare to speak out. I hear it every day from the people. When they fight for a place to sell vegetables at the markets, our locals are driven out. Yesterday when our locals fought back and said, ‘this is our country’, these foreigners retaliated and said, ‘No, we will be taking over your state very soon’," said Bumburing.

"When our officers reprimand them at government departments, they retort, ‘don’t you be so conceited. Our people will be in your seats soon’. These illegals are costing us our resources, causing health, social problems, they bring drugs and they bring disease to Sabah. But the most important thing is that our sovereignty has been breached and the government has not done anything."

8 terms of reference

The eight terms of reference of the RCI are:

1. To investigate the number of foreigners in Sabah given blue Malaysian ICs or citizenships;

2. To investigate if the award of such ICs or citizenships were according to the law;

3. To investigate if those given blue ICs, temporary identification receipts or citizenships through unlawful means have been registered in Sabah’s electoral roll;

4. To investigate if the authorities have taken any action or made improvements to standard operating procedures (SOPs), methods and regulations to prevent any irregularities in accordance with the law;

5. To conduct a deeper probe into the SOPs, methods and regulations on the award of blue ICs or citizenships to foreigners in Sabah by taking into consideration international norms and standards that are applicable to Malaysia, and to recommend amendments or changes to improve current practices;

6. To investigate the reasons behind Sabah’s population growth according to the following categories:

a) Sabah citizens residing in the state, including those given blue ICs or citizenships through birth certificates (late registration);

b) foreign workers (including family members);

c) illegal immigrants (including family members); and

d) fugitives

and to study their impact on the number of those registered in the electoral roll;

7. To investigate the social implications on the Sabah community following the award of blue ICs or citizenships to foreigners in the state; and

8) To investigate the number of “stateless” foreigners in Sabah given blue ICs or citizenships.

Malaysia Chronicle