At Sabah RCI, Anwar denies knowledge of ‘Projek IC’, pins it on ex-BN colleagues

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed today he had never heard of “Projek IC”, shunting all knowledge of the government’s controversial award of citizenship to foreigners that kept the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in power to his former Cabinet colleagues.

The one-time Umno politician-turned-opposition leader also told the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Sabah’s high influx of immigrants that the government scheme to grant citizenship to foreigners who agreed to vote in the BN had continued after his former boss, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as prime minister in 2003 and needed to stop.

“Between 1993 and 1998, when I was the deputy prime minister, I was never once invited for any National Security Council (NSC) meetings. 

“I had heard of the special task force which had been set up by the NSC in 1989 but did not manage to get additional information,” Anwar was quoted as saying by The Malaysian Insider news portal before a five-man panel led by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Judge, Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.

The PKR adviser who had been a part of the federal Cabinet from 1982 until his sacking in 1998 was asked by RCI consulting officer Manoj Kurup is he was aware of the citizenship award project, known as “Projek IC” or “Projek M”.

But he denied all knowledge, saying he had been kept out of the loop entirely.

“Even during the two-month period when I was Malaysia’s acting prime minister, I was never given a briefing by the NSC director-general or asked to sign any files pertaining to the NSC,” Anwar reportedly said and added that “Projek IC” had never been brought up in Cabinet meetings.

But Anwar also reportedly said that Dr Mahathir was not entirely to blame for the continuation of the citizenship-for-votes scheme.

“Dr Mahathir shouldn’t be singled out for Projek IC. Both his successors should also be questioned because it also occurred during their tenures in office,” the 66-year-old was quoted saying, referring to fifth prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the incumbent, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

According to The Malaysian Insider, Anwar told the RCI there were government officers in Selayang and Sepang in Peninsular Malaysia who were registering illegal immigrants as citizens and issuing them documents that marked them Malaysians, in breach of the Federal Constitution that clearly stated the conditions under which citizenship could be granted to foreigners.

“It is written clearly in black and white what is allowed, and what is not. Even during my tenure as deputy prime minister, I did not have the authority to issue identity cards to anyone, that authority came under the sole purview of the Home Minister,” Anwar was quoted saying.

According to another news portal, Malaysiakini, Anwar said the NSC task force was introduced when Dr Mahathir’s predecessor, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, was in power, to cope with the incoming tide of refugees fleeing the civil war in the southern Philippines in the 1970s.

“I am making specific reference to a secret, somewhat haphazard (task force)... Outside the scope of a legitimate structure acceptable to any civil society or government,” he was quoted saying, clarifying a question from Majnoj who wanted to know if the PKR adviser was referring to a similar task force also formed under the NSC but in 1989.

He also told the RCI that the government initiative back then was not known as “Projek IC” but was generally referred to as the operations by the task force.

“I see in media reports, everything is blamed on Dr Mahathir. It is not right.

“The system has been in operation before him, was under him, and continued after that. But we have to stop it,” Anwar was quoted as saying, referring to “Projek IC”.

“Projek IC” is said to be responsible for the abnormal spike in Sabah’s population, where foreigners comprise nearly 30 per cent of the state’s 3.12 million-strong populace.

Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, has been repeatedly named as the man who spurred the initiative.

Dr Mahathir, who had also been called to tesfify before the RCI in Kota Kinabalu on September 11, was reported to have shrugged off all blame for the purported government initiative in Sabah, which has been blamed for the worrisome population explosion of immigrants, including illegals, in the north Borneo state that has also seen a boom in crime incidents.

The country’s fourth and longest-serving PM had said he had never heard “until recently” of “Projek IC”, blaming instead “government officers” for the illegal awarding of identity cards (ICs) to foreigners, appearing to absolve himself from all blame over the controversial project that reportedly occurred from the 1980s onwards.