By Clara Chooi
Assistant News Editor
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Unfazed by the latest allegations against their party elders on the controversial 1980s “Projek IC” in Sabah, several local Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders have expressed relief that the state’s prolonged immigrants problem may finally be resolved.
Speaking to The Malaysian Insider last night, the leaders acknowledged that the incriminating stories of the clandestine “citizenships-for-votes” exchange with illegal foreigners could hurt their chances at the ballot boxes when federal polls are held.
But they pointed out that this proves Datuk Seri Najib Razak and BN’s sincerity in the promise to end the state’s over four-decades-old dilemma. After years of lobbying by Sabah-based BN parties, the opposition and civil society groups, the first-term prime minister had last year agreed to form a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to resolve the issue.
During the royal panel’s hearing yesterday, two former National Registration Department (NRD) officials testified that the much talked-about “Projek IC” had existed, and was used to increase the state’s Muslim population and help the government stay in power.
It was revealed that around 100,000 blue identity cards were issued to immigrants in Sabah in 1993 and these foreigners were also given NRD receipts, which were temporary documents that allowed them to vote during the 1994 state election.
The name of a former minister, the late Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub, was mentioned during the testimonies by former Sabah NRD director Ramli Kamarudin and his former assistant registrar Kee Dzulkifly Kee Abd Jalil as the source of the directive to issue the identity cards and voting rights.
“I can say this to you — this is exactly what we have been fighting for, this RCI. There was a chorus of claims from the opposition when the panel was formed... they said that nothing positive would come of this.
“But look here, those subpoenaed as witnesses, they are credible people,” said United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) secretary-general Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau when contacted here.
“I think, from what has already been said, we can expect that more will be revealed,” said the politician, who has also been summoned as a witness to the panel.
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief Datuk Johnny Mositun echoed the same, saying that BN was not afraid to unearth every piece of evidence on the unchecked influx of foreigners into Sabah and the state’s unhealthy population boom.
He pointed out that details on the alleged “Projek IC” have in the past been repeatedly revealed, particularly during the Likas election petition case in the High Court, but no action had been taken then.
“I think since our government is sincere here with this RCI, I appeal, I appeal that investigations are carried out properly... prove this happened so that it can be resolved for good,” he said.
But the leaders were also quick to add that the purpose of the royal panel probe was not to go on a “witch hunt” and punish those deemed responsible for the longstanding dilemma.
They pointed out that despite the damning testimonies, the RCI proceedings are unlike that of a court case where witnesses are later cross-examined to offer the accused party a chance to defend his or herself.
Sabah BN secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan urged all parties not to “jump the gun” and to wait for the RCI panel’s decision once the hearing concludes and they agree on their recommendations.
“I do not want to sound like I am being prejudiced here, but think about the facts and the circumstances before you judge.
“Someone could come up there and say the fault belongs to another and so on and so forth and then who are we to blame?” he noted, adding that the blame has so far been heaped on Megat Junid, who is no longer alive to defend himself.
Yesterday, ex-NRD director Ramli said that Megat Junid, the then deputy home affairs minister, had in 1994 told him to match the details of the NRD receipts issued to illegal immigrants to the names and identity card numbers of registered voters.
“We gave them (immigrants) RM20,” Ramli told the inquiry panel yesterday.
“We teach them how to vote. We gather them in a house. We send them by bus to the polling stations. Then we send them back and we collect the receipts. The receipts are just for voting. We did not give them identity cards,” he added.
Ramli said that about 200 NRD receipts were issued in five or six state constituencies each in Sabah that were considered “black spots that were difficult for the government to win.”
Ramli, who said he was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) from 1995 to 1997, also denied receiving bribes.
“This was a direct order from the deputy home affairs minister himself, even though I admit that it was illegal,” he said.
He added that the directive was given at a meeting with Megat Junid, Umno’s Datuk Seri Osu Sukam (who later became the Sabah chief minister in 1999) and an NRD registration officer named Asli Sidup, at Hyatt Hotel in Kota Kinabalu two weeks before the 1994 state election.
“The receipts were strictly for voting. After that, we would collect the receipts and destroy them,” said Ramli.
Asli testified later that 200 NRD receipts were used in the Kawang state constituency in the 1994 state election, which Osu won by a mere 64 votes.
The 1994 state election saw PBS winning just 25 of the 48 state assembly seats.
But several PBS assemblymen defected to BN shortly after, causing the collapse of the PBS government.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister who was in power from 1981 to 2003, has been accused of spearheading the so-called “Projek IC”, in which citizenships were allegedly given to immigrants in exchange for their votes.
But former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh, who administered the state from 1976 to 1985, denied on Tuesday the existence of “Projek IC”.
The inquiry before RCI chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong resumes today.
Sabah has nearly a million registered voters ― 926,638, to be exact, according to a June report in English-language daily The Star.
The issue of illegals has turned emotive among Sabah natives like the Kadazandusun and Murut communities, many of whom feel that the state’s sovereignty has been stolen through the continued influx of foreigners from countries like the Philippines and Indonesia.
It is no secret that Sabahans are angry and want these foreigners shipped back to their home countries in one way or another. They also often blame the group for robbing them of job opportunities and for the rise in the state’s social, economic and security problems.
Recent statistics from a 2010 census of Sabah’s population showed an extraordinary 390 per cent increase from 636,431 citizens in 1970 to 3,120,040 citizens in 2010 ― more than double the national population growth of just 164 per cent.
Of the 3.12 million Sabah population today, reports have estimated that 27 per cent are foreigners.