PUTATAN: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin has denied allegations from the opposition that thousands of foreigners were being flown into the State to help Barisan Nasional (BN) win the May 5 polls.
Rejecting the accusation, Yahya said foreign visitors had always been coming into the State either to spend their holidays or to work, and suggesting that they were now coming into the state to illegally participate in the election was just absurd.
“People fly in everyday. If people get accused (of being phantom voters) for flying, then the airport will be empty,” he said when asked to comment on a recent remark by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader on Thursday was reported as saying that special flights carrying immigrants from Peninsular Malaysia had been arriving in Sabah daily since April 25.
He claimed there were 16 of such flights, transporting some potential 4,500 phantom voters since last month.
“Sabah is a good state where thousands of tourists come to visit everyday. In fact, it is difficult to get a ticket. So how can they say this,” said Yahya.
According to Anwar, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had received information that foreign workers from Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar were brought in through Bukit Kayu Hitam while those from Indonesia were transported to East Malaysia via Port Klang.
He said it was these immigrants would be used as voters to help ensure victory for BN on polling day this Sunday.
“We received information the flights were directed by the Prime Minister’s Department through a letter signed by a minister. We have video recordings, pictures as well as documents, including the schedule for the specially booked flights to support our claims,” he was quoted as saying.
However, the allegation was quickly rejected by Prime Minister’s Office, which issued a statement on the same day denying any involvement on the said flights.
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief Datuk Johnny Mositun also stressed that there is no truth to the claims that Sabahans have been “imported” to cast votes in Peninsular Malaysia tomorrow. He said most of those who had left the state were actually registered voters in West Malaysia.
“It even happened to my own children, two of them are registered voters. My daughter will be voting here, while my son, who is working in KL (Kuala Lumpur) will vote there.
“A few years back, he had lost his identity card and applied for a new one, and gave his address in KL, so when he registered as a voter, his voting centre will automatically be the address stated in his IC, so he has become a KL voter,” he explained.
Mositun, who is also PBS Election Director, described the opposition’s claims as “baseless and another dirty tactics to pinch votes”.
“They (opposition) will find ways to twist stories and confuse the people. They are trying to portray that the Election Commission is not doing a good job when in fact, the EC is very transparent.
“So the issue of fake or phantom voters does not arise,” he told reporters when met during the meet-the-people session with caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman at the residence of Barisan Nasional candidate for Kawang, Datuk Ghulam Haidar Khan Bahadar in Kampung Dambai, Papar, on Thursday.