KOTA KINABALU: The State Reform Party (Star) has challenged local parties in Sabah to leave the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the wake of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s widely-reported blog posting on Wed this week that “illegal immigrants who have stayed long in Sabah are entitled to citizenship especially when they can speak Bahasa Malaysia”.
He also called for the removal of illegal immigrants holding MyKads meant for citizens by operation of law from the electoral rolls.
Police urged to charge Mahathir with treason
Thirdly, Daniel urged the Police to interview Mahathir and charge him in Court over his blog posting “which is tantamount to an admission of sedition and treason”. He’s not in favour of the Federal Government recommending to the King that Mahathir be given any Royal Pardon by the backdoor.
Fourthly, he urged the formation of an Interim Federal Government composed of all parties across the political divide to draw up a long-delayed Federal Constitution for Malaysia. He pledged to set up a Constitution for Malaysia Movement (CoMaMo) shortly to embark on a signature campaign.
He claimed that Malaysia was supposed to get a Constitution in 1963 but instead the Malayan Constitution has been allowed to masquerade as the Malaysian Constitution “because the Federation of Malaya is masquerading as the Federation of Malaysia.”
BN parties in Sabah in morally untenable position
“BN parties in Sabah are in a morally untenable position after Mahathir’s statement which was made to pre-empt the imminent Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in Sabah,” said Star deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun in a press statement after an emergency meeting here of Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia (BoPi MaFo), an NGO pending registration in the United Kingdom to strategize with Hindraf Makkal Sakthi on a class action suit.
“Mahathir’s blog posting proves that he was involved in Projek IC Mahathir to give out MyKads meant for citizens by operation of law to illegal immigrants in Sabah.”
Daniel challenged BN parties in Sabah to make their stand on Mahathir’s blog posting one way or other especially in view of the imminent RCI on illegal immigrants.
Mahathir wants to urge illegals to vote for BN
Mahathir also wants to give comfort to the illegal immigrants and urge them to vote for BN after Anwar Ibrahim’s recent statement on the issue, he added. “Anwar warned illegal immigrants to stay out from the voting process if they don’t want to be deported when Pakatan Rakyat forms the Federal Government in Putrajaya.”
The Star deputy chairman stressed local parties in BN Sabah cannot “have their cake and eat it too”.
They need to either uphold the Federal Constitution or admit that they have been going along since 1981 with Mahathir’s Law of the Jungle, he added.
The Federal Constitution, pointed out Daniel, is crystal clear on the eligibility for citizenship in Malaysia.
“In the case of Sabah, illegal immigrants are being provided with local birth certificates to claim MyKads meant for citizens by operation of law,” alleged Daniel. “We only have to look at the cases of Pakistani carpet dealer Salman Majid and Indian restaurant keeper Majid Kani to realise that these are the tip of the iceberg.”
Mahathir admits involvement in Projek IC Mahathir
The Projek IC Mahathir, continued Daniel, gave out local birth certificates to illegal immigrants based on them making out false Statutory Declarations claiming that the applicants were born in Sabah.
“These twice-born people subsequently obtained MyKads meant for citizens by operation of law,” he said. “Majid Kani admitted in Court that he was born in Tamil Nadu, India and not in Papar, Sabah. Salman Majid said that he was not in Sabah for the first 23 years of his life and that he holds documents (false) showing that he was born in Sabah.”
Anyone, he said, can Google these cases.
The mystery, according to him, was how Salman Majid and Majid Kani obtained their first MyKad without having to produce the personal documents of their parents.
“Malaysians have to produce their parents’ personal documents when they apply for their MyKad for the first time,” stressed Daniel. “Everyone including a 12 year old kid knows this.”
Sabah, Sarawak have rights, powers on citizenship
Pointing out the law as it applies to Sabah, as in Sarawak, Daniel explained that the Federal Government cannot give out citizenships to foreigners in the state without the recommendation of the state government as the initiating party on a case-by-case basis.
According to him, this is provided for by the five constitutional documents and/or conventions which formed the basis for Sabah and Sarawak to be in Malaysia.
If eligible foreigners in Sabah have been naturalized by the Federal Government without the prior recommendation of the state government as the initiating party, said Daniel, “they would have to apply for permanent residence to be considered Sabahans.”
“Here, we are talking about foreigners who have entered the state with valid travel papers, stayed at least 10 years or more within 12 years and have gone through the legal procedures including police clearance by the Special Branch and by the police in their home countries,” said Daniel. “Mahathir is talking about illegal immigrants circumventing the Federal Constitution with Putrajaya and the state governments in Sabah and Sarawak looking the other way.”
Foreigners not eligible for operation of law, registration
Foreigners, stressed Daniel, are not eligible for citizenship by operation of law or registration but only by naturalization.
Illegal immigrants, he further stressed, are not entitled to anything no matter how long they have stayed in the country and no matter how well they speak Bahasa Malaysia. He urged that such illegal immigrants and their children be deported by the backdoor, if not by the front door.
“If they came in by the backdoor, they should go back by the backdoor since there’s no record of their having legally left their home countries,” said Daniel.
On illegal immigrants who came in by the front door and became illegal immigrants after over-staying and either have expired or valid papers, he urged that they be urged to return by the front door if their home countries will not declare them as stateless people, and by the back door if they have since lost their citizenship rights back home.
“Such people should take their children along too and not leave them behind to wander in the streets in Sabah,” said Daniel. “We are the poorest state in Malaysia today after being conned into the Federation by the British and the Malayans and cannot afford to look after them.”
General Amnesty best way forward for illegals in Sabah
Asked whether there was any hope for the illegal immigrants in Sabah on humanitarian grounds, Daniel softened a little and conceded that a general amnesty could be offered to those people who surrender their Malaysian personal documents obtained by misrepresentation and/or fraud, pay a fine of at least RM 300 each as in 1965 in Peninsular Malaysia, remove their names from the electoral rolls, return to their home countries either by the front or backdoor and re-enter legally if they had jobs in Sabah and wished to resume from where they left.
The Star deputy chairman urged the Federal Government to offer the general amnesty either before the imminent RCI convenes or completes its work.
“It would be better if the general amnesty is offered before the 13th General Election since many of these illegal immigrants are on the electoral rolls, he claimed. “Many of them are even in the state assembly, Parliament and in Government including Sabah Foundation and the Land Office and holding positions in state and Federal GLCs.”
Going forward, Daniel vowed to compile Mahathir’s blog posting on urging citizenship for illegal immigrants and the related reactions in the media to present to the RCI as proof of Mahathir’s complicity in Projek IC Mahathir and his guilt acknowledged in the Court of Public Opinion. - Sabahkini
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