Anwar - Mahathir tahu, tapi dia pura-pura lupa...

Anwar: Tidak munasabah Mahathir tidak tahu Projek IC...

Tidak munasabah jika Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad berkata beliau tidak tahu menahu mengenai Projek IC di Sabah kecuali beliau tidak bertanggungjawab atau tidak cekap, kata Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ketika memberi keterangan di hadapan Siasatan Suruhanjaya Diraja (RCI) mengenai pendatang asing di Sabah, hari ini.

Anwar berkata, sebagai Perdana Menteri ketika projek ini berlangsung, Dr Mahathir sepatutnya bertanggungjawab terhadap skandal itu dan Anwar menolak penjelasan bekas perdana menteri itu bahawa beliau tidak tahu mengenainya.

Anwar juga berkata, beliau tidak pernah mendengar mengenai Projek IC ketika berada dalam Kabinet dari 1982 hingga 1998.

 Anwar berkata demikian ketika menjawab soalan yang dikemukakan Pegawai RCI, Manoj Kurup sama ada beliau tahu atau tidak mengenai projek itu.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, beliau mendengar mengenai kewujudan satu pasukan khas yang ditubuhkan untuk memasukkan pendatang asing sebagai rakyat Malaysia.

"Antara 1993 hingga 1998, ketika saya timbalan perdana menteri, saya tidak pernah dijemput dalam mana-mana mesyuarat Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN).

"Saya ada mendengar satu pasukan khas ditubuhkan oleh MKN pada 1989 tetapi tidak mendapat maklumat lanjut," katanya di hadapan panel lima anggota RCI yang diketuai Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.

"Hatta semasa menjadi pemangku perdana menteri selama dua bulan, saya tidak pernah diberi penerangan oleh Ketua Pengarah MKN atau diminta menandatangani apa-apa fail berkaitan dengan MKN," katanya dan turut memberitahu, Projek IC tidak pernah dibawa kepada Kabinet.

Berpakaian sut biru gelap dan berbaju putih, Anwar dalam keterangannya berkata, pada masa itu Dr Mahathir adalah Menteri Dalam negeri.

Anwar yang memakai cermin gelap sepanjang menjadi saksi itu kerana masalah mata, kelihatan tenang semasa menjawab segala soalan yang dikemukakan kepadanya oleh Kurup, Shim dan wakil daripada Persatuan Peguam Sabah.

Sebelum ini, Dr Mahathir mendakwa kepada pemberita di Kuala Lumpur, bekas timbalannya itu pasti tahu jika pengeluaran kad pengenalan palsu di Sabah dibuat secara rasmi oleh kerajaan.

Tanpa menamakan Anwar, bekas perdana menteri yang paling lama berkhidmat di negara ini berkata, pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat (PR) itu seharusnya mengetahui kejadian yang berlaku di Sabah.

"Jika ia polisi kerajaan, kenapa dia tidak berhentikan?" katanya.

"Adakah dia akan menipu di suruhanjaya dan mengatakan saya yang arahkan? Dia mesti tahu, kerana dia timbalan saya," katanya merujuk kepada RCI itu.

Isu pengeluaran kad pengenalan kepada pendatang haram sebenarnya bermula ketika zaman pemerintahan Perdana Menteri kedua, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, kata ketua pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim memberitahu Suruhanjaya Diraja (RCI) mengenai pendatang haram di Sabah, hari ini.

“Antara 1972 hingga 1984, ada kebanjiran kemasukan pelarian ke Malaysia dari selatan Filipina. Pelarian ini mahu bebas daripada pergaduhan di sana pada masa itu jadi mereka lari ke Sabah,” katanya dalam nada tenang dan berhati-hati.

Beliau berkata, isu permasalahan kad pengenalan timbul antara 1979 dan 1999 dan kesalahan patut diletakkan kepada pasukan kerja khas dibentuk oleh Majlis Keselamatan Negara. Anwar mendakwa, pasukan itu yang masih lagi aktif hingga sekarang bertanggungjawab terhadap pengeluaran kad pengenalan kepada pendatang asing walaupun mereka tidak berkelayakan.
 
Pasukan Khas Yang Tugasnya Kurang Telus

Anwar berkata, ketika pemerintahan bekas Perdana Menteri,Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, perdana menteri itu merahsiakan isu keselamatan negara. Anwar berkata, Dr Mahathir yang juga adalah Menteri Dalam Negeri pada masa itu dan pengeluaran kad pengenalan berada bawah pengawasannya.

Dr Mahathir adalah orang yang bertanggungjawab dan jika dia memilih untuk tidak membangkitkan isu itu ketika mesyuarat Kabinet, anda perlu tertanya-tanya mengapa,” katanya membiarkan soalan itu tidak berjawab.

“Percaya atau tidak, ada ahli dalam pentadbiran, malah di kalangan Umno sendiri tidak tahu apa yang berlaku. Tidak ada dokumen Kabinet mengenai isu itu atau ia dibawa ke dalam mesyuarat, anda boleh periksa minit jika tidak percaya kepada saya.

“Jika saya ada menghadiri mesyuarat berkaitan pengeluaran kad pengenalan kepada pendatang haram, saya amat pasti ia tentunya dicatat dalam minit.

Saya tidak bercakap mengenai pasukan khas biasa, saya merujuk kepada pasukan khas yang tugasnya kurang telus,” katanya di hadapan lima panel RCI yang diketuai bekas Ketua Hakim Sabah dan Sarawak, Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.

Anwar mendakwa, pasukan khas itu yag beroperasi dan membabitkan kedua-dua bekas dan perdana menteri sekarang yang ada pengetahuan mengenai kewujudan dan aktiviti seumpama itu.

Katanya, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dan Datuk Seri Najib Razak ada lebih banyak maklumat mengenai pasukan petugas yang ditubuhkan pada 1989 itu. 

“Pasukan itu yang ditubuhkan Majlis Keselamatan Negara, yang dikenali sebagai badan strategi yang amat penting. Apa yang sesetengah orang tidak tahu ialah majlis itu turut berkhidmat sebagai `war room’ Umno dari masa ke masa,” katanya.

 

Apa Penyelesaian mengenai pendatang haram 

Pegawai perunding RCI, Majoi Kurup bertanya kepada Anwar apa penyelesaiannya untuk menangani pendatang haram yang memegang kad pengenalan bermasalah, seperti didedahkan Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara minggu lalu iaitu kira-kira 113,000 diklasifikasikan sebagai kad pengenalan yang diragui.

“Ini adalah mimpi negeri kepada negara yang dicipta oleh eksekutif, ia membabitkan rasuah besar-besaran dan ancaman serius kepada kedaulatan Malaysia. Dan sekarang kita ditanya bagaimana hendak membersihkan kekacauan yang tercipta, yang juga mempunyai kesan amat rumit dalam pilihan raya lalu,” katanya tanpa sebenarnya menjawab soalan.

Shim: Ada peningkatan populasi di Sabah yang berlaku kira-kira ketika kemasukan Umno ke dalam negeri ini. Adakah anda bertanggungjawab mengetuai kemasukan Umno ke Sabah pada 1991, adakah ia benar?

Anwar: Ya, ada alasan yang baik Umno berasakan mereka perlu mempunyai pengaruh kuat di Sabah. Bagaimanapun, anda perlu membezakan antara parti politik yang berjuang dalam peperangan sah dalam sempadan undang-undang dan parti yang tidak.
 
Shim: Ada persepsi yang menyatakan peningkatan populasi itu disebabkan pendatang asing dimasukkan ke dalam komuniti untuk meningkatkan kelebihan bagi sesetengah parti politik.

Anwar: Tidak adil untuk menyalahkan parti secara keseluruhan kerana tidak semua orang tahu mengenai perkara itu. Tetapi, pemimpin yang tahu mengenai kejadian itu dan memilih untuk berahsia terhadap tindakan bawah tanah patut dipertanggungjawabkan. Tidak ada sesiapa yang patut membiarkan operasi haram yang mengancam keselamatan negara.

Manoi: Apa yang boleh dilakukan untuk menangani isu pendatang haram yang memegang kad pengenalan Malaysia?
 
Anwar: Kita patut adil, tidak semua orang Filipina di Sabah adalah pendatang haram, kita perlu kenal pasti siapa pelarian sebenar. Penarikan semula kad pengenalan mereka adalah salah mengikut undang-undang antarabangsa, walaupun Malaysia tidak menandatangani persetujuan itu. Tetapi, langkah pertama yang perlu kita ambil ialah menghentikan serta-merta pengeluaran kad pengenalan kepada pendatang haram. Ada pegawai kerajaan atau Umno yang dihantar ke Sepang dan Selayang untuk mengeluarkan dokumen identiti kepada pendatang haram. Kita perlu menghentikannya sekarang tanpa sebarang alasan.

Manoj: Apa yang perlu dilakukan kepada pendatang haram yang mempunyai kad pengenalan Malaysia, yang anak dan cucu mereka dilahirkan di sini?

Anwar: Ini isu yang amat rumit kerana menarik semula kad pengenalan mereka bermakna mereka akan menjadi orang yang tidak ada negara. Kita perlu memikirkan generasi akan datang dan mempertimbangkan tempat mereka yang sepatutnya di Malaysia. Dalam perkara ini, kita perlu ada belas kasihan, timbang rasa dan berfikir mengikut asas kemanusiaan. Ini adalah hampir serupa dengan orang Mexico yang tinggal di California yang sebenarnya tidak mempunyai kad hijau. Dan isu lain yang perlu dipertimbangkan ialah, jika kita membatalkan kad pengenalan pendatang ini, siapa yang akan menerima mereka? Tentu saja buka Filipina atau Indonesia. Penghantaran pulang pendatang membabitkan persetujuan kedua-dua negara yang menghantar dan menerima.

“Saya mengadakan perbincangan dengan bekas presiden Filipina, Fidel Ramos. Beliau menunjukkan keengganan untuk menerima bekas pelarian balik ke Filipina kerana menganggap Malaysia bertanggungjawab terhadap pelarian itu kerana mereka ada di sini,” katanya.

Bukan Mahathir saja salah

Dalam pada itu, ketika soal jawab, Anwar berkata,  Dr Mahathir tidak patut dipersalahkan sepenuhnya atas apa yang berlaku dalam skandal pemberian kad pengenalan untuk warga asing di Sabah.

Ini kerana para pengganti mereka juga patut dipersalahkan, kata Anwar kepada Suruhanjaya Diraja Siasatan (RCI) hari ini.

Anwar ketika membela bekas bosnya itu berkata, Tun Abdullah Badawi dan Datuk Seri Najib Razak juga patut dipertanggungjawabkan terutama selepas ia bukannya berlaku di Sabah sahaja.

"Dr Mahathir tidak patut dipersalahkan sepenuhnya dalam Projek IC, kedua-dua pengganti dia juga mesti disiasat kerana ia juga berlaku ketika keduanya menjawat jawatan itu," kata Anwar kepada penal lima anggota RCI yang diketuai bekas Ketua Hakim Sabah and Sarawak, Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.

Anwar mendakwa, apa yang berlaku ketika Dr Mahathir juga berlaku kini di bawah Najib.

Katanya, pegawai kerajaan di Selayang dan Sepang yang mendaftar pendatang asing juga mengeluarkan kad pengenalan untuk mereka.

Bagaimanapun Anwar tidak bersetuju dengan cadangan Steve Shim, sistem di negara ini lemah, dengan berkata, ia bukan lemah tetapi korup.

Anwar berkata, Perlembagaan Persekutuan dengan jelas menyebut suasana yang membolehkan pendatang asing boleh dijadikan warganegara.

"Ia tertulis dengan jelas apa yang dibenarkan dan apa yang tidak. Hatta semasa saya sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri, saya tidak berkuasa untuk memberikan kad pengenalan kepada sesiapapun. Kuasanya terletak penuh di bawah Menteri Dalam Negeri," kata Awnar.

"Memang ada kelemahan ketara dalam sistem tetapi pengeluaran kad pengenalan secara besar-besaran kepada pendatang asing tidak akan berlaku kecuali mendapat kebenaran dari orang tertinggi dalam kerajaan," tambah Anwar merujuk kepada perdana menteri.

Wakil Persatuan Peguam Sabah Datuk John Sikayun bertanya Anwar, adakah beliau berpendapat penguatkuasaan adalah punca utama kemasukan besar-besaran pendatang asing ini.

"Penguatkuasaan memang masalah utama, khasnya di Malaysia.  Daripada mengawal pendatang asing, polis lebih berminat untuk menghantar 60 anggota dari Cawangan Khas untuk mengikut program dan ucapan saya," kata Anwar.

"Polis sepatutnya hantar satu atau dua anggota Cawangan Khas ke program saya dan selebihnya menguruskan pendatang asing.

"Juga ada pegawai yang korup, bukan sahaja dalam pasukan polis tetapi juga dalam Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara dan juga Jabatan Imigresen," katanya.- TMI

Project I.C- Anwar points at Mahathir...

Former Malaysian deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, told the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) here that throughout his term in the federal government from 1982 to 1998, he had been kept in the dark over two issues — the billions of ringgits flowing out and issues of home security.

“On the billions of ringgits only Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Daim Zainuddin knew, while on issues of Home Affairs, I was only involved on the problem of housing for the police force which I brought up when I learned from security men assigned to my house that some of them lived in squatter huts,” he told the five-member royal commission in a packed High Court room here.

Anwar who is now the opposition leader in Parliament, also revealed that even during the Ops Lallang, where many opposition leaders were arrested, he was not consulted and was kept in the dark until the very end.

“When I asked the prime minister, Mahathir, what was going on, his standard reply was ‘this is security issue, I will deal with the police’,” he said.

Earlier he testified that he did not believe Mahathir would not know of the existence of Project IC, or giving out Malaysian documents to illegal immigrants, in Sabah.

He said it was impossible for Mahathir to claim ignorance about the dubious issuance of Malaysian identity documents to illegal immigrants in Sabah, unless he was irresponsible and incompetent.

Saying he himself was not involved in any security task force, Anwar asserted that Mahathir, as the prime minister at the height of Project IC, had a full knowledge of what was going on in home security as he was also Home Minister at the time.

 

In a rare twist to their protracted enmity, Anwar Ibrahim defended his former boss Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the granting of citizenship to foreigners in Sabah.

"I see in media reports, everything is blamed on Dr Mahathir. It is not right.

"The system has been in operation before him, was under him, and continued after that. But we have to stop it," Anwar said in reference to Project IC.

Anwar was testifying before the royal commission of inquiry on immigrants in Sabah at the Kota Kinabalu court complex this morning.

 However, without naming his former boss, Anwar, who was clad in a black suit and white shirt, poured cold water on Mahathir’s claim of ignorance over Project IC.

“If you’re talking about 200 or 5,000 people (illegals) coming into a town, I can accept.

“But if you see over 100,000 people coming (into Sabah) and you say you are not aware, you are just completely incompetent, irresponsible or complicit to it,” he said.

'Mechanism initially set up during Razak's time'

Anwar explained that a mechanism was initially set up during prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein’s time to deal with the influx of refugees following the civil war in the southern Philippines in the 1970s.

However, this mechanism, which he described as a special task force in the National Security Council (NSC), continued to exist after the conflict and was abused by arbitrarily granting citizenship to foreigners, said Anwar.

When queried by conducting officer Manoj Kurup if the special task force Anwar referred to was the same one set up under the NSC in 1989 to deal with illegal immigrants in Sabah, the opposition leader denied this.

“I am making specific reference to a secret, somewhat haphazard (task force)... Outside the scope of a legitimate structure acceptable to any civil society or government,” he said.

Anwar, who is a former deputy prime minister, said the operation was then not described as ‘Project IC’ but generally referred to as operations by the task force.

He added that the cabinet was never informed of this and he had only first heard about the matter through complaints from the ground in Sabah.

When asked by RCI chairman, Steve Shim Lip Kiong, whether he agreed that Malaysia had a weak system on awarding citizenship, Anwar said he partially agreed.

He added that there are laws for citizenship and it had been awarded every now and then but that its issuance to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants would not have been possible without the knowledge of the Home Minister.

Asked by RCI member Herman Luping on what could be done to the foreigners who now have Malaysian documents, Anwar replied Malaysia has to deal with it from a constitutional and humanitarian basis.

“But it will be a major and horrendous exercise,” he pointed out.

Anwar also painted a picture that Sabahan ministers in the Federal Cabinet had not been vocal or convincing enough on the illegal immigrants issues in Sabah, so as to compel the Cabinet to discuss it.

“I think most of the time people were satisfied with the answer given by the Home Ministry,” he said admitting that the problem in Sabah is a national issue and not just a Sabah matter.

Not under current state government

On the proposal by certain parties that a Homeland Security be established to resolve the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah, the former deputy premier said it matters little if corrupt leaders are to lead in it.

“You set up a new unit, but soon it will be infested by corrupt officers,” he said adding that those who proposed the setting up of a Homeland Security, if it is modeled after the United States which introduced it after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, they better be aware of the downsides of it.

On the proposal by certain parties for the Sabah state government to issue its own identity cards in order to differentiate between genuine Sabahans and foreigners with Malaysian documents, Anwar said he would not agree with the idea under the current (Umno-led) Sabah state government.

“We must allow officers from the (Sabah) state to monitor but I would not support the state to issue its own IC, especially this particular state government,” he said.

He also said the police and army were beefed up in Sabah but that was still not adequate.

Mahathir who testified at the RCI last week denied any knowledge of Project IC, or citizenship-for-votes scam, which was done in the 1990s in order to legalise many foreigners as Malaysians in return for their votes for BN.

A day after his testimony, Mahathir alluded that Anwar would be the right person to answer questions on this issue, suggesting that the latter had played an active role in the project. 

Previously Sabah politician Jeffrey Kitingan too had urged Anwar to tell the truth when he testifies at the RCI.

Anwar had testified in sunglasses throughout the proceeding and his eyes were visibly swollen under his shades when approached by reporters outside court.

Asked about his swollen eyes, Anwar replied: “It’s just an allergy, it should get better soon.”

Anwar is the 210th witness to testify before the RCI since proceedings began in January this year and is the sole witness to take the stand today.

Mahathir had testified in the same stand last Wednesday.-malaysiakini/fmt

Najib and Pak Lah privy to Project IC, claims Anwar...

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has implicated a former and sitting prime minister for perpetuating the mechanism of Project IC, despite the covert operation being said to have ended in 1995.

Anwar said a “secretive” special task force which was responsible for the arbitrary granting of citizenship still exists under former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, better known as Pak Lah, and current Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“I do not believe that they have been disbanded, therefore I do not understand why Abdullah and Najib have not been called (to the RCI),” he testified before the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on immigrants in Sabah at the Kota Kinabalu court complex today.

“They would have better knowledge, purview and understanding by looking at the notes and minutes of the task force which is under the National Security Council (NSC),” added Anwar.

Anwar claimed that the recent handiwork of this task force was in Selangor, where it had illegally given citizenship to foreigners like in Sabah.

However, Anwar, too was put under the microscope as he was grilled about his apparent inaction against Project IC when he was deputy prime minister between 1993 to 1998.

Anwar defended himself, saying that the likes of Project IC and matters related to the Home Ministry were kept closely to Mahathir’s chest even though he was one of his most trusted aides at that time.

“I must say, even for Mahathir’s successors, when it comes to national security, they hold it close to their chests.

“All those years I was deputy prime minister, I had nothing to do with the Home Ministry except to attend Quran readings and launching police stations in Perlis and Permatang Pauh,” he said.

Furthermore, he said Sabah leaders at the federal level during that time also did not press on the issue and therefore it was never seriously taken up by the cabinet.

It was only later when local Sabah leaders complained about the influx of immigrants did he take notice of the problem, but even then did not understand the seriousness of it, Anwar conceded.

‘I would have done more’
 
“I would humbly admit that I would probably had done something more had I been made aware of the gravity of the problem at that time,” he said.

Former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, who leads the RCI, also grilled Anwar on the perception that Project IC was intended to alter Sabah’s demography and paved the way for Umno’s creation in the state.

Anwar, who was then an Umno vice-president, admitted that he was amongst the leaders tasked to set up Umno in the state in 1991 but said the entire party should not be faulted for Project IC.

“You have to differentiate between a political party fighting a legitimate battle within the bounds of the constitution, and illegitimate means.

“I don’t believe it is entirely fair to blame the party as a whole because the operation was very secretive.

“Probably it was only among certain party leaders who continued to support or condone the excesses and illegal means, and they should be held responsible,” he said.

Anwar said that Umno should reveal the record of its supreme council meeting minutes and go on record over the matter.-malaysiakini

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