RCI for Sabah now, not after polls
By Queville To, FMT
KOTA KINABALU: An opposition MP has warned Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak not to delay setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate claims that citizenship was given to foreigners in exchange for their votes.
Sepanggar MP Eric Majimbun said Najib must resolve the long standing issue of the almost two million illegal immigrants in Sabah, their citizenship and Project IC scheme. The alleged scheme was set up to change the electoral composition of the state along communal lines.
“Those culprits who are involved in Project IC should be brought to justice according to the existing laws, as these people are the traitors of the country and Sabah in particular,” he said.
He said to allow the next general election to be called without investigating the allegations would be perpetuating a fraud.
“To go ahead and call for the 13th general election without investigating the issues would call into question the election itself,”added.
Majimbun stressed that an impartial investigation was crucial to help clean the much-maligned electoral rolls, in line with Najib’s pledge to push through electoral reforms.
“If the government can allow the establishment of RCI to probe individual-related issues like that of Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death and that of a lawyer like VK Linggam, why can’t the same be done to resolve the perennial issue of the presence of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who have obtained the MyKad through dubious means like the Project IC, which is threatening the sovereignty of Sabah and affecting the well-being of its people?” he asked.
Majimbun also challenged Umno and the Chief Minister Musa Aman as the chairman of Sabah Barisan Nasional and the State Security Council to take a stand on the call for the establishment of the RCI on the matter.
Only Umno against RCI
The outspoken MP denied Musa’s allegations that the opposition were ‘merely capitalizing’ on the RCI to score political points.
“We are not capitalizing on the RCI. This is not about scoring political points. Project IC is an irresponsible and unreasonable act.
“It is the Umno leaders who are playing politics regardless of the outcome for Sabah and its people.
“(Notice how) none of the Sabah delegates who spoke in the recent Umno annual general assembly had supported the calls for the setting up of the RCI.
“Whereas almost all political parties in Sabah including several component parties of Barisan Nasional (except Umno) too have expressed their support demanding for the establishment of the RCI by the federal government, ” said Majimbun who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) deputy president.
