By Kim Quek | August 13, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
AUG 13 — Sabahans should reject the terms of reference of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants proposed by Prime Minister Najib Razak because they fail to address the issue of purging the state’s electoral roll of phantom voters.
The entire eight-item terms of reference are marked by hypocrisy and evasion of the real issues.
Item after item is centred on “whether” there are illegal identity cards or citizenship granted, and “whether” there are illegally registered voters in the electoral roll, when the whole world knows that the Sabah electoral roll is heavily infested with illegal immigrants who have been illegally registered as voters.
There is already abundance of incontrovertible evidence produced in court as well as in books recording details of clandestine campaigns to massively infuse these phantoms into the electoral roll so as to enable Umno to grab political power in Sabah; so why still keep up the pretence that such a phenomenon is an hypothesis that requires exhaustive investigations to establish its veracity?
Other items concentrate on the “standard operating procedure” of issuing ICs and citizenship to immigrants and its possible improvement, as well as the “social implication” arising from such issuance of ICs and citizenship.
Investigation of these issues will of course throw further light on a calamity that has plagued Sabahans for decades, but will it really relieve the heartache that has long been tormenting the suffering Sabahans?
CORE ISSUES LEFT OUT
Truth be told, Najib’s proposed realm of investigations is way off the mark. It misses the bull’s eye by a wide margin.
For instance, what about Sabahans’ democratic right to elect the government of their choice, which has been robbed from them by the massive presence of these phantom voters? Not a single word on cleansing the electoral roll in the proposed terms of reference.
And what about Sabahans’ social, economic and security plight arising from being apparently outnumbered by these immigrants? Also, not a word on measures to alleviate these predicaments which have reached crisis proportion.
Under the circumstances, one cannot help but wonder: is this RCI an ad-hoc election tactic to diffuse the mounting fury of Sabahans ahead of election or is it an act of contrition that signals a genuine change of heart by Umno to start treating Sabahans with decency and justice?
The answer is obvious, judging from Umno’s shameful history of callous disregard for the welfare of Sabahans, to the extent of virtually selling off their home land to foreigners, who have not only stripped Sabahans of their democratic rights through adulterating the electoral roll, but have also jeopardised Sabahans’ social and economic well being as well as threatening their very survival through sheer numerical superiority of the immigrants.
Knocking on the doors of Sabahans with this half-baked RCI package at this eleventh hour of an election is taken as election trickery. The general feeling is that “it is too little, too late”.
The only saving grace that I can think of for Najib to salvage Umno’s tattered image is for him to incorporate into terms of reference for the RCI measures to rectify the electoral roll as well as an agenda to alleviate current hardships which should include an orderly repatriation programme and measures to stop further influx of such immigrants.
SOVEREIGNTY NOT NEGOTIABLE
In view of the imminence of election, cleansing of electoral roll must be pushed through with the utmost urgency, for which an independent audit team of recognised integrity must be formed immediately to dig into the files in the NRD (National Registration Department) and the Election Commission to identify phantom citizens and phantom voters respectively, and have them purged. This auditing team will make regular progress reports to the RCI through public hearings.
On top of that, and as proof of Umno’s sincerity, Najib must give his solemn pledge that he will not call the next election until a properly cleansed electoral roll is completed for use in the polls.
Sovereignty of a free and independent people is a non-negotiable issue.
Umno must return sovereignty to the people of Sabah — before the election, not after; or face their wrath, which in all likelihood will result in Pakatan Rakyat taking over the rein of government by the next election.
Critics has been harping on this issue in the same manner for so long while UMNO/BN has moved the goalpost for perhaps nearly 3 decades. Purging the electoral vote is simply insufficient. The statistics shows that maybe over 65% of Sabah population is Muslim compared to only 37% in the early 1980s..Even you assume that 30% of the population is illegal immigrant, the precentage that can be purged is going to be less. Given the gerry meandering that has been done in favour of UMNO, it simply impossible to just correct the electoral roll for Sabahan to reclaim their rights over their state.
LKS and Anwar is right, the full extend of the crime committed must be explored – what laws were broken, treason, fraud etc and the guilty must be prosecuted to the fullest extend. THEN, we can talk about corrective process.
It may be necessary to revisit ALL the past election. We may have to rule that Sabah elections in the past 25 years illegal. A complete re-delineation exercise by independent election commission.
Yes long long time not done and all of a sudden…Najib is interested to correct the wrongs.
This is an action that cannot solve the problems created for decades…and it will take years if Najib is sincere about it.
I hope Sabahans be it immigrants given with blue ICs and the real Sabahans will vote BN out and let a sincere non corrupted PR takes over to solve it.
First on the list is to allow Sabah to have a stronger economy that billions were stolen from the by BN.
Sabahans have been made slaves..be it born there or immigrants made citizens..who mus have children now.
Both must unite to vote BN out and stop the slaves driving……lying…….cheating their futures…and families own good.
Najib is playing the game “I will deliver”…. Trust me”
What he actually want is to save his own skin from loosing 13th GE and be investigated for the billions stolen on the Scorpene deal and Mongolian lady very cruel murder case.
If Sabahans believe Najib is totally innocent….then by all means support him.
Will Sabahans support a rouge and a murderer?
In the past..we have no choice and they become Dictators.
If Sabahans ….be it immigrants or real ones have knowledge of what Najib is….then only idiots will want BN under his leadership to rule again.
Your choice , your call and hope it is for country and people too.
Selfishness gets you no where.
Be a Malaysian first… race second.
I suppose a Royal Commission of Inquiry can also be convened by the Chief Minister of any state with the approval of the Governor or the Sultan. When the opposition to BN takes over Sabah, a new Commission should be appointed to address the issues intentionally ignored by Najib.
The federal opposition should not wait for the “uncertain” RCI to give priority to purge phantom voters, but rather, make known their stand to Sabah illegal immigrants that should PR takes federal power after GE13, they will take stern action, including jail terms, against illegal immigrants who have voted in GE13.
Does UMNO/Barisan admit that something like Project I.C. did actually happen?
There is no solution to the sabah illegal immigrant problem. Do we expect them to come out voluntarily to declare that they are illegal? No. So how are we to determine the real sabahans from the fake ones? What about those who are already here for 10 yrs and more and worse, now with family? Do we expect them to leave. Of course, legally they should but would they? So do we just send them (those hundreds and hundreds of thousands) back to wherever they came from?
CrazyO’mamak, what do we do with your heap of sheeeet? Tell us!
Engaging Spinning Works of Evil behind all these spinning UmnoB….their only survival tool left desperately .
PR must constantly probes BN UmnoB wrong doings rationally inorder to earn Malaysian Rakyats of all races confidences.
Kudos to PR “Be strong and stay united as one Pro Democratic Political entity Icon and Stay away from Corruption to maintain trust and bonding of all Malaysians”
>> Spin Doc says it all….GE13 Election coming soon….for sure
Well its precisely this denial that underlies the moral or mental disorder and mental or moral inability to recognize certain human acts as downright evil subtlety.