KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has questioned the sincerity of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) leaders after a turnaround of their sturdy views on being in opposition to issuing particular identification paperwork for foreigners.
The Parti Warisan president stated Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee had been among the many most vocal exponents of the now-scrapped Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) proposal after they had been a part of the Opposition.
But now, he stated, they had been amongst those that help and have adopted a proposal to challenge a particular foreigner card for migrants, which is in essence the identical because the PSS.
He added each Kitingan and Yong had even held public protests to object to the PSS, which was proposed by then-home minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the earlier Warisan-led state authorities to implement.
“But the place is Jeffrey or Yong now? Where are the demonstrations?” he requested throughout a press convention right here on Saturday (June 4).
Shafie, the previous Sabah chief minister, stated the PSS was to equip the economic and plantation sectors with an enough labour drive.
“We know there’s a scarcity of staff in these sectors. But issues had been politicised and our intentions had been twisted,” he stated, including that Warisan was made to appear to be it needed to legalise undocumented migrants.
Kitingan, who heads a particular committee on undocumented overseas staff and overseas nationals in Sabah, had beforehand stated the state is ready to go forward with the issuance of the particular foreigner card for migrants, who embrace refugees and stateless individuals dubbed as “inland foreigners”.
He stated the foreigner id card, which was proposed in a town-hall assembly with Kitingan on Thursday (June 2), can be renewable yearly and would focus on inland foreigners.
These “inland foreigners” are Filipino refugees issued with three completely different paperwork particularly the Immigration Department’s IMM13 refugee cards, Special Task Force census certificates and the Kad Burung Burung (issued within the Nineteen Eighties by the state authorities).
The challenge of documentation of inland foreigners was utilized by their rivals, together with Kitingan, as political ammunition in opposition to Warisan which unsuccessfully contested the Kimanis by-election in January 2020. As a consequence, Warisan ended up scrapping the PSS.
Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking stated that the PSS was primarily dumped on the Warisan-led state authorities’s lap by the federal government and Muhyiddin at such brief discover that they didn’t have sufficient time to clarify to the individuals what it entailed.
As a consequence, he stated, they had been incessantly criticised and attacked by their political rivals together with over social media, in public rallies in addition to the Kimanis by-election marketing campaign.
“The challenge was they attacked Warisan on the time, saying the PSS was to legalise unlawful immigrants. They lied and politicised the matter simply to confuse the individuals, notably these within the west coast and inside areas.
“But ultimately, they (GRS leaders) at the moment are proposing the identical answer. The distinction is they’d sufficient time to clarify what this foreigner card is,” he stated.
Leiking stated the PSS was beforehand focused to switch the three varieties of paperwork (IMM13, Census Certificate, Kad Burung-Burung) held by 136,055 foreigners in Sabah.
“The query now could be will all foreigners, together with those that entered illegally, even be registered (and given the particular foreigner card)?
“I additionally need to ask Jeffrey – you whacked us final time (however) why are you not asking Muhyiddin who’s chairman of Perikatan Nasional (of which Sabah STAR is a part occasion) and founding father of GRS why he launched the PSS then?” he requested.
Warisan Youth chief and former deputy dwelling minister Datuk Azis Jamman additionally stated it was unfair for his occasion and Shafie to take the brunt of the criticism when they didn’t even suggest the PSS.
