KUALA LUMPUR - Even a superhero would not have time to look into every detail in running a state, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, in defence of his overlooking the "Project IC" in Sabah in the 1990s.
"Even if the PM is a superman, he cannot have all the time to look at every single thing.
"I'm hearing now that some wrongful things had been done (in the project). But that doesn't mean it was ordered to do so," he told a press conference after addressing the 15th Malaysia Strategic Outlook Conference today.
Mahathir said this when asked if he had overlooked the issue during his tenure.
He accused opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was then deputy prime minister, of having been directly involved in granting identity cards to illegal immigrants in Sabah.
"He (Anwar) had a hand in it. He normally takes the initiative himself.
"I don't have to tell him, in fact he sometimes takes more initiative (than what is required)," he said on the issue of identity cards for the illegal immigrants in Sabah.
Asked if he had evidence to prove his allegations, Mahathir said these are things that he "knows" without documentary proof.
"I will stick to the facts," he said if he was called to testify before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the matter.
The RCI into Sabah's illegal immigrant problem began on Jan 14. The panel is headed by former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.
Since then both the government and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail have been assuring the people that if there are criminal offences in the operation, there will be action taken but with sufficient evidence.
-thesundaily
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.