We never claimed 40,000 Bangladeshis were voters, says Anwar
Eileen Ng, TMI
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) today accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of misleading Parliament by alleging that the opposition had claimed 40,000 Bangladeshis were registered as voters.
He said Pakatan Rakyat had checked and found that no such allegations were made.
“We spoke about voters being flown in from Sabah and Sarawak but never said anything about 40,000 Bangladeshis being registered as voters.
“This allegation was created and spun by pro-Umno blogs,” he said a press conference at the Parliament lobby.
When tabling Budget 2014 on October 25, Najib had spoken about the Malaysian population breakdown and had jokingly quipped that it did not include the 40,000 Bangladeshis who were brought in as phantom voters in the 13th General Election as alleged by the opposition.
“Until today, no one has seen them or their shadow. Enough of lies. Seek forgiveness from Him,” Najib had said. Anwar said it was irresponsible of Najib to have made such accusations and to ask Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to issue a denial that her countrymen voted in the general election.
“How would she know? This is an internal matter which should be monitored by the Election Commission.” He said EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Mohd Yusof had previously acknowledged that there were 62,000 dubious voters on the electoral roll.
He said this was supported by information received by Pakatan Rakyat, who had proof that foreigners were part of the early voters’ list, which is confined to certain people like police and army personnel. “There should be an independent commission to investigate this,” Anwar said.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim criticised the opposition for claiming that 40,000 Bangladeshis voted for Barisan Nasional.
He said only 12 Bangladeshis were granted Malaysian citizenship in the past 10 years. “These 12 people can only vote if they registered as voters. Let us close the book on the 40,000 Bangladeshi voters issue as it is a big lie,” he had said.
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