Citizenship for votes: Umno leader may sue S’gor PKR deputy chief

By Martin Carvalho, The Star

PETALING JAYA: Hulu Selangor Umno division chief Datuk Mohamed Idris Abu Bakar may file a defamation suit against Selangor PKR deputy chief Zuraida Kamaruddin for alleging that he was involved in trying to get citizenships for some 2,000 foreigners.

Zuraida on Tuesday claimed that Mohamed Idris had written a cover letter to the Home Minister to speed up citizenship applications by the foreigners “so that they could vote for Barisan Nasional in the next general election”.

“It is a dirty ploy by PKR to sow anger against Umno and a malicious lie against me.

“I will consult my lawyers to see if a defamation suit can be filed against her,” he said Wednesday.

Mohamed Idris said he was shocked when a friend called him up on Tuesday afternoon informing him of the allegation which appeared in an online news portal.

“I have instructed the division’s secretariat to gather more details before determining the next course of action,” he said.

He also denied a report on an online news portal on Wednesday that said he had called for a meeting to discuss the matter.

Zuraida on Tuesday had produced the letter allegedly signed by Mohamed Idris dated March 23 at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Ampang MP claimed the letter was passed to her last Friday by “a concerned civil servant”.

Mohamed Idris said it did not make sense for Umno to apply citizenship for foreign workers merely to get votes.

“Barisan’s MIC won the seat from PKR in the by election last year by over 1,700 vote majority,” he said, adding that his division had registered some 7,000 new youth voters since 2008.

Barisan’s P. Kamalanathan defeated former Keadilan leader Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the by-election in April last year.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad, who won the seat in the 2008 general election on PKR ticket by a slim majority of less than 200 votes against MIC’s Datuk G. Palanivel.