Tunku gave out ICs in broad daylight, Kit Siang tells Dr M

DAP has slammed former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s defence that his predecessor Tunku Abdul Rahman had also given out citizenship to foreigners, as that had been done in broad daylight while the alleged Project IC was covert.

“Tunku never gave out citizenship to subvert the electoral process but  to ensure that in the run-up to Merdeka in 1957, non-Malays who resided in Malaya had a right to citizenship, which was agreed to by all including the Conference of Rulers - all done in an open and transparent manner.

“Did Mahathir conduct the Project IC or Project M in an open and transparent process, after getting the mandate from his cabinet, the Conference of Rulers and the Malaysian people, particularly the Sabahans?” asked party supremo Lim Kit Siang (left).

He was responding in a statement to the former PM’s defence yesterday on revelations in the Sabah royal commission of inquiry (RCI) of an alleged “IC-for-votes” scandal.

Mahathir yesterdayadmitted he had indeed given out ICs to foreigners, but that it was above board and that Tunku had done worse.

“We should look back and remember, Tunku Abdul Rahman was worse than I. He gave out a million citizenships to those who were not qualified (to receive it).

“So why is it that what he had done is not considered wrong, but what I have done is?” Mahathir told the press after an event in Shah Alam yesterday.

Lim said, "if the Project IC or Project M was lawful... why was it necessary for Mahathir to deny it and to hide it from the people of Sabah and Malaysia for over a decade?"

No admission till yesterday

Lim noted that until pressed for a response to the ongoing RCI yesterday, Mahathir had “strenuously denied the existence of Project IC” since allegations first arose during the Likas election petition in 1999.

He said Mahathir hiding behind Tunku’s issuing of ICs to Independence-era non-Malays was “pure, pristine, undiluted Mahathirism - the perverted illogic, falsehood-coated assertions and brazen dishonesty”.

“It is sad and tragic for Malaysia  that the longest-serving prime minister in Malaysia does not understand that two wrongs do not make a right.

“Sadder and even more tragic, there are no ‘two wrongs’ here as it is utterly cowardly, disgusting and contemptible on Mahathir’s part to allege that Tunku had committed a more heinous crime and treason than he with regard to  Project IC or Project M,” said Lim.

He said Mahathir should volunteer himself as a witness in the RCI, but quipped that he hoped the former PM would not have one of his infamous bouts of “amnesia ... as happened when he testified before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Videotape in January 2008".
 
“Mahathir, who is well-known for his elephantine memory before and after his appearance before the Lingam Videotape RCI, said ‘I cannot remember’ or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony in January 2008,” said Lim.