“give ’em citizenship… then let ’em vote for us”

so it looks like this was what was happening when the government gave citizenship to cambodians and indonesians who are PR holders. so claim mahfuz omar from PAS.  however, home minister hishamuddin had denied this  (read below the full article from malaysiakini when he denied it).

from malaysiakini:

Pokok Sena PAS parliamentarian Mahfuz Omar (picture) has accused the BN government of engaging in its own version of ‘human trafficking’ for political benefit.

He pointed to an operation at Kompleks Integrasi Warisan in Salak Tinggi, Sepang, where he alleged the government launched a campaign to get permanent resident (PR) holders from Cambodia and Indonesia to apply for citizenship.

“My suspicion is that they will fill the electoral roll in the coming general election. As part of their psychological warfare, the government had earlier announced that there are large numbers of Malaysians who have not registered as voters, including about two million Malays.

“It is these Malay-sounding names that will be used to fill the electoral roll. This may be a repeat of what happened in Sabah previously, the infamous Project M, where illegal immigrants were issued identity cards to vote. This involved Yong Teck Lee, I believe, and judge Kamil Awang proved that such things have taken place,” pointed out Mahfuz (picture).

mahfuz further said that  on july 3 in zentrum hall in setiawangsa, near datuk keramat in kuala  lumpur, a function was held to present the cambodians and indonesians,  who had their citizenship applications successfully processed with their blue identity cards.

“They never applied until they were asked to pohon for citizenship. One of the things told to them during the briefing at the event was not to forget to support the government.”

wow! amazing! ‘asked to apply’.  so good eh.  a bribe before a bribe? eh… a threat before a bribe? you know… “you had better apply for a citizenship!” then after applying, quick as a lightning speed, get it  approved, and gave them the citizenship and at the same time saying “i give your citizenship, you must vote for us.”

the marvelous way our government works.

you know, it is said that there are over 500,000 registered indonesian workers and another over 500,00 illegal indonesian workers. imagine, if all these were given citizenship so that they could vote. given citizenship by umno, so vote umno. that would be quite disastrous for pakatan (PR) . there will be a huge swing of votes to umno and umno will continue to stay in power. frightening though eh.

read the whole article from malaysiakini here:

Citizenship-for-votes deal in the works, claims Mahfuz

Hazlan Zakaria
Jul 15, 10
4:42pm

Pokok Sena PAS parliamentarian Mahfuz Omar has accused the BN government of engaging in its own version of ‘human trafficking’ for political benefit.

He pointed to an operation at Kompleks Integrasi Warisan in Salak Tinggi, Sepang, where he alleged the government launched a campaign to get permanent resident (PR) holders from Cambodia and Indonesia to apply for citizenship.

“My suspicion is that they will fill the electoral roll in the coming general election. As part of their psychological warfare, the government had earlier announced that there are large numbers of Malaysians who have not registered as voters, including about two million Malays.

“It is these Malay-sounding names that will be used to fill the electoral roll. This may be a repeat of what happened in Sabah previously, the infamous Project M, where illegal immigrants were issued identity cards to vote. This involved Yong Teck Lee, I believe, and judge Kamil Awang proved that such things have taken place,” pointed out Mahfuz (left).

He added that he had asked a question in the House today to clarify how many PR holders there were, state by state, indicating his fear that PR holders may be used to load the dice against the opposition in the next general election.

He explained that during the operation that took place between June 15 to 17 at the Komplek Integrasi Warisan, government officials gave briefings to the PR holders and distributed citizenship application forms to them.

Function to present blue identity cards

The Pokok Sena parliamentarian added that on July 3 in Zentrum Hall in Setiawangsa, near Datuk Keramat in Kuala Lumpur, a function was held to present those who had their citizenship applications successfully processed with their blue identity cards.

“These people are from Cambodia and Indonesia. They never applied until they were asked to pohon for citizenship. One of the things told to them during the briefing at the event was not to forget to support the government.”

He added that activists from PAS, PKR and DAP went to the venue to take pictures and had lodged a police report on July 10, as they feared that this might be a syndicate selling citizenships to PR holders.

The activists held a press conference about the incident yesterday.

Mahfuz said yesterday, there was a similar programme to campaign for PR holders to apply for citizenship at the compound of the surau in the Taman Melati Indonesian village.

“Is this an illegal syndicate? Does it involve the collusion of officers from government agencies and departments? Or is this an official government programme, since the government officials present all seemed to be legitimate?” asked the PAS leader.

Mahfuz added that he was informed about the alleged government programme by PR holders who were suspicious of the apparent ease with which they were offered citizenship.

“I met them together with YB Kamaruddin Jaafar, but I cannot disclose their identities for their own safety,” he said.

Hisham: It’s not true

Meanwhile, in an immediate reaction to the media, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein refuted Mahfuz’s allegations.

“It’s not true. Of course not. If he has factual cases, bring them to me, because the issue of citizenship is not a light matter. Those citizenships that I have processed are outstanding cases, some of them (pending) for 20 or 30 years.”

He said that the applications he processed were applications that fulfilled strict conditions, specifically in the context of citizenships which were delayed. He added that it was impossible to hold an event to distribute the ICs because it’s not a right but a privilege for those who are eligible.

“So, the accusation that this is happening not only saddens me but perhaps questions the thousands of applications we solved last year. There is no political consideration, not to get new voters because those who got it (citizenship) have been waiting for years, so if there are specific cases, Mahfuz can extend them to me and we can investigate,” said the minister.