Dr M: Why didn't Anwar stop 'Project IC'?

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today deflected claims that he lied under oath about his ignorance of 'Project IC' and urged his critics to instead question Anwar Ibrahim's silence about the matter when he was in government.

Without naming Anwar, Mahathir said "a Pakatan Rakyat leader" who served as his deputy prime minister had never questioned him about 'Project IC', allegedly a clandestine scheme to issue citizenship to Muslim migrants in Sabah to alter the state's voter demographics.

Speaking to reporters after a function in Kuala Lumpur today, Mahathir said that if 'Project IC' really took place during his tenure as prime minister, Anwar could have stopped him.

“He was in the government, he knew the government's policy. If that was the government's policy, why didn’t he stop it?” he asked reporters after attending the 30th anniversary luncheon of the Japanese Chambers of Trade and Industry Malaysia (Jactim).

Asked whether he was referring to Anwar, Mahathir jokingly said "maybe".

Mahathir in his testimony before the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Sabah's illegal immigrants yesterday said he was not aware of 'Project IC' and that overzealous civil servants were to blame for issuing citizenship documents to those not qualified.

By Billy Boey