SAPP to go on 100,000 signature drive for royal panel

Queville To

SAPP Youth believes only a Royal Commission of Inquiry can deal with the massive presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has started up a signature campaign to pressure the federal government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to look into the massive presence of “new Malaysians” in Sabah.


The party’s Youth chief Edward Dagul said SAPP was targeting 100,000 signatures following Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein’s statement that the government would not set up such a commission despite evidence that fraud had taken place on a massive scale in the state.

The presence of thousands of illegal immigrants in the state who have been accorded citizenship status has been a perpetual thorn in the side of both the federal government and Sabahans who have been demanding justice for over two decades.

The issue became a hot item over the last two weeks when a local businessman proclaimed himself the sultan of Sulu in a ceremony at Kampung Likas near here.

Mohd Akjan Ali Muhammad is said to be a member of Umno and also believed to have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) several years ago for allegedly issuing Malaysian identification documents to foreigners.

“Despite the current uproar over Akjan, we find it unbelievable that the home minister still does not see the seriousness of this problem.”

“The statement by the minister that the proposals of the so-called special laboratories on the Project IC had been submitted to the state government for its consideration is just passing the buck.

“Many are of the opinion that there are no such proposals. The statement by the minister was an afterthought. Why were these proposals not disclosed by the Chief Minister (Musa Aman) before when the issue first came to light?” Dagul asked.

He said that SAPP Youth would seek the cooperation of all NGOs as well as political parties during the signature drive. Later, a gathering would be held and several leaders would be invited as guest speakers to talk about the issue.

“It is important to show the leaders, especially federal leaders, the feelings of Sabahans on this mother of all threats,” he said.