by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, Petaling Jaya on Friday, 23rd March 1990:
DAP calls on Dr.Mahathir to reconsider his refusal to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the funding, politics of money and corruption of political parties
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr.Mahathir Mohamed, gave the people two disappointments yesterday. The first disappointment was this announcement that the government would not establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the funding, politics of money and corruption of political parties.
I call on the Prime Minister to reconsider his decision, for a full-scale public inquiry into the funding, politics of money and corruption of political parties will be a great contribution in creating a clean and honest system of politics in Malaysia.
Dr.Mahathir must agree that there is too much corruption and the politics of money in the political system, whether in internal party elections or during the general elections.
The Prime Minister should invite leaders of all political parties in Malaysia for a conference to discuss this grave problem of the politics of money, which is finally the root cause of corruption and graft in high political places.
The DAP is prepared to fully co-operate with such an independent high-powered Riyal Commission of Inquiry. Other opposition political parties have expressed their support for such a wide-ranging independent inquiry into the funding, politics of money and corruption in all political parties.
Now, it is the ruling parties in the Barisan Nasional who are opposed to such a full-scale inquiry. Malaysians have a right to ask what the Barisan Nasional parties are hiding from such a full public examination of the their funding and the politics of money and corruption in the Barisan Nasional parties.
It was the Prime Minister himself who opened up the subject about the improper funding of political parties, suggesting that opposition parties are getting financial support from oversea sources which have ulterior motives against the Malaysian government. As the opposition parties have agreed to a full-scale, independent and public inquiry into the funding, politics of money and corruption in all political parties, it is most extraordinary that it is now the Barisan Nasional parties who are backing out of such an inquiry!
Is the Federal Government accepting the unanimous Sabah State Assembly motion for a commission of inquiry into massive scheme to issue illegal immigrants fake blue Malaysian identity cards
The second disappointment is the comments by Dr.Mahathir on the grave problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah, which showed that the Federal Government has no intention to deal seriously with the problem.
The Prime Minister should state clearly whether the Federal Government intends to accept and implement the unanimous motion approved by the Sabah State Assembly last Thursday for a commission of inquiry into the massive scheme to issue illegal immigrants fake blue Malaysian identity cards
If the Federal Government disregards the unanimous motion of the Sabah State Assembly, it will show Federal contempt for the views, rights and interests of the people of Sabah, and this cannot be conducive to Federal-State relations.
It is an open secret for over a decade that there is a syndicate which issued blue Malaysian identity cards to illegal immigrants, which has far-reaching socio-economic and political consequences. We do not know how many voters registered in the Electoral Roll are actually illegal immigrants who have no right to Malaysian citizenship, and who are allowed to influence and decide political future of the country.
In Sabah, one out of every two persons id an illegal immigrant
When I visited Sabah last October after an absence of three years, I wan shocked that the illegal immigrant problem seemed to have gone out of control. I stressed at the DAP ceramahs in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau that the greatest problem faced by the people of Sabah was the illegal Filipino and Indonesian immigrants- which have worsened by leaps and bounds after the PBS had come into power.
I reminded PBS leaders not to forget their election promises to deal with the problem of illegal immigrants, and that PBS cannot escape blame for the illegal immigrant problem by passing the buck to Kuala Lumpur, as it had worsened under the PBS government.
At that time, PBS leaders attacked me for irresponsible talk. I am glad that today, PBS are admitting that what I said in Sabah last October was the truth.
The illegal immigrants problem in Sabah today have reached a stage where one out every two persons in Sabah is an illegal immigrants! When the PBS wanted to throw out the Berjaya government of Harris Salleh in 1985, they were talking about a figure of 250,000 illegal immigrants.
Now, five years later, the Sabah Finance Minister, Datuk Bernard Dompok, is talking about 700,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah. And according to Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Joseph Kurup, in the Sabah State Assembly last week, the illegal immigrants in Sabah would make up 70 per cent of the population in less than 20 years time in the year 2,008.
Sabahans would soon become the ‘illegal immigrants’ in their own homeland
This means from the present situation where out of every ten persons in Sabah five are illegal immigrants, it would become seven illegal immigrants out of every ten persons in Sabah. When this happens, Sabahans would become the ‘illegal immigrants’ in their own homeland.
Sabahans and Malaysian cannot take any comfort from the statement by the Prime Minister yesterday that the government will deport the thousands of illegal immigrants in Sabah, but that this was a difficult problem because of the long coastline in Sabah.
What Dr.Mahathir said yesterday is something which he and other Federal leaders had been saying for the past two decades, to explain and justify why there is no effective way to check the influx of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
DAP cannot accept this explanation, for we are fully convinced that if the government has the political will to combat the problem of the illegal immigrants, it could be brought under control, even if it would be difficult to completely eliminate the problem. At least, it could be reduce from 250,000 or 30,000 and not multiply to 700,000!
What is disturbing in Dr.Mahathir statement is that he is talking about deporting ‘thousands of illegal immigrants’ when the problem is 700,000 illegal immigrants. This is eloquent testimony that the Prime Minister and the Federal Government are not serious in wanting to resolve this problem which is the No.1 burning issue faced by all Sabahans.
The DAP fully supports the demand of the people of Sabah for firm, immediate and effective measures to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah. It is not enough for the Sabah State Assembly to pass a motion to call on the Federal Government to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate into the massive scheme to issue fake blue Malaysian identity cards ti illegal immigrants.
If no firm, immediate and effective action is forthcoming in the next week or two, the entire Sabah State Cabinet and all the Sabah Assemblymen should come to Kuala Lumpur to ask for a meeting with the Prime Minister to impress on him the seriousness of the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah and demand Federal action