At Sabah RCI, Dr M came, he saw, he denied everything except perhaps his own name!

UPDATE6 KUALA LUMPUR - Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed took the stand at the Kota Kinabalu High court to testify in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal immigrants, who under a notorious 'Project M' were allegedly offered citizenship so as to alter Sabah's demographic pattern and for voting his BN coalition during elections.

Mahathir, who served as PM from 1981 to 2003, has been fingered as the main culprit behind the scam that Sabahans blame for their current abject economic and social situation.

The 88-year-old veteran Umno leader has denied all allegations, pointing the finger back at other colleagues including his former deputy - Anwar Ibrahim, who is now the Opposition Leader.

"Dr M will deny everything. His presence is to do damage control. In the end, Malaysians, especially Sabahans, won't get anything useful out of the RCI. No one of importance will be brought to book," Opposition MP for Batu Tian Chua had told Malaysia Chronicle earlier this morning before the hearing began.

"Does Mahathir really think anyone will believe him that Projek I.C. was undertaken by other politicians and civil servants on their own accord?" said another Opposition politician Nik Nazmi, after hearing Mahathir's testimony a few hours later.

Ultra racist

Mahathir did not disappoint. As Tian had predicted, he denied almost everything except perhaps for the facts pertaining to his personal particulars such as his name.

"I never knew about Project IC until recently," Dr M as he is often called told the packed courtroom in KK where the RCI is being held.

Asked why it was named Project I.C. or Project M, Mahathir said his name was used for many things.

"They call me racist, ultra, I am never bothered. It is part of political life," he said.

Blames 'low-ranking' officers

Mahathir is appearing before the RCI panel as its 209th witness.

Taking the stand for nearly 90 minutes, Dr M stuck to his claim there was never any government policy to issue Malaysian identity cards (the equivalent to citizenship or residency papers) to foreigners through dubious means.

He said among the criteria used to issue I.C.s were that the foreigners must have lived in the country for many years, spoke the language and adopted the culture. He insisted the government’s stand had always been that only those qualified were awarded citizenship.

He also denied giving instructions to former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh or any individual to issue the I.C.s.

Not responsible for Megat

Dr M proceeded to blame"low-ranking officers" for giving the identity cards to foreigners in Sabah.

When asked about claims made by other RCI witnesses that they had received orders to issue the I.C.s from the then deputy Home Minister Megat Junid, Dr M said he could not be responsible for the late Megat's actions.

"I never gave the late Tan Sri Megat Junid any instruction on the issuance of identity cards to illegal immigrants," said Mahathir, who was then also the Home Minister.

'Selective' memory

When asked by RCI consulting officer Manoj Kurup to explain why one of the witnesses - former Sandakan district chief officer Hassnar Ebrahim - had testified that it was Megat who told him that the order for the project came from Dr Mahathir himself.

"Hassnar? I have never heard of him. I am also not aware that he had been arrested under the Internal Security Act," said Dr M, adding it could have been the decision of the National Security Council to detain Hassnar.

Dr M was also grilled about the various identity cards used by the illegal immigrants including Kad Layang-Layang, Kad Burung-Burung, Kad Expo. However, he replied the only identity card he knew was the I.C., drawing laughter from the gallery.

Manoj then asked Dr Mahathir whether he knew of the book Projek IC Agenda Tersembunyi Mahathir (Project I.C. Mahathir's secret agenda).

"I glanced through the book recently when somebody gave me a copy. It is a good academic read. But I don't know how the author could reach the conclusion that it was my decision to implement Project IC. However, I realise when people use my name, the book sells very well," said Dr Mahathir, which brought another round of laughter from the gallery.

Bid to damage control, push the blame on Anwar?

Anwar too is due to testify before the Sabach RCI. According to his aides, he is expected to fly into the state for the September 16 Malaysia Day celebrations.

The former deputy prime minister has said he was not kept "in the loop" by Mahathir on the citizenship scam, which has been tagged Project M.

Last month, 2 officials from the RCI had flown down to Kuala Lumpur to record Anwar's statement.

Anwar's lawyer, Latheefa Koya, told the press that he had expressed his willingness to take the witness stand so as to help expose the culprits, whose actions he has often condemned as being "treasonous" as it directly threatened national security.

Latheefa also said that Anwar had named 3 individuals he believed were the main perpetrators behind the Project M. The lawyer declined to reveal who the three were.

"Yes he has named 3 people. But I think I will hold on this because they (the trio accused by Anwar) are also going to be interviewed," she said.

So far, two of Mahathir's closest aides have been implicated by other witnesses in the Sabah RCI. They are the late former deputy home minister Megat Junid and Aziz Shamsudin, Mahathir's former political secretary.

Malaysia Chronicle