EC has no power over citizenship registration – chairman

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Abdul Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission (EC) has no power over registration of citizenship, its chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, said yesterday.

Responding to the claim that illegal immigrants had been issued official documents enabling them to cast ballots in the 1994 Sabah polls, Abdul Aziz, who has been in office since December 31, 2008, pointed out that the alleged incident happened 19 years ago, but said that it would be against the law and called on those in charge to explain.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry investigating the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah was told on Wednesday that a former deputy home minister had ordered a National Registration Department (NRD) official to issue receipts to non-citizens that matched the names and identity card numbers of registered voters.

“It is unfair for me to give comment on the RCI revelation.

“This case happened in 1994 and it has been more than 20 years since it happened. Whether true or not has yet to be established, in fact the accused is also no longer around,” said Abdul Aziz, referring to the former deputy home minister, Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub, who died of prostrate cancer in 2008.

Abdul Aziz reiterated that his agency’s task was only to register voters and that the EC cross-checks their citizenship based on the colour ‘blue’ of the ICs issued by the NRD. Legal immigrants in the country are issued red ICs.

“Apart from that, I want to stress that the whole voter registration process will then be checked with the JPN and KDN,” he said, referring to the NRD and the Home Ministry respectively by their Malay initials.

Abdul Aziz said such action, if proven true, was against the law, adding that those in charge must explain.

“If true that it happened in 1994, I absolutely disagree with such action.

“EC today will not register any foreigner as a voter,” he said.