KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — PKR's Penang exco member Dr Afif Bahardin has become the latest non-native opposition leader to be prohibited from entering Sarawak, ahead of the state election that will be announced today.
The PKR lawmaker said he was denied entry upon landing in the Kuching airport last night, and detained until he was put on a plane back to the peninsula this morning.
“Thank you, Adenan Satem, for putting me up for the night before sending be on a flight back in the morning,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Deemed undesirable person in Sarawak and ordered to be removed. Oh Malaysia, tanahairku.”
Afif joins an extensive list of federal opposition leaders from the peninsula and Sabah who have been denied entry into Sarawak.
Those affected allege that the move was meant to sabotage their campaigns for the state election, but Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem denied this.
Despite the denial, Adenan said that the entry bans will be lifted after the Sarawak poll.
Sabah and Sarawak have autonomy over their respective state’s immigration, and is empowered to deny entry to individuals whom they deem to be unfit.
