Pakatan Rakyat has called for an emergency parliamentary sitting following continuous revelations of non-citizens being registered in the Election Commission's electoral roll, as well as instances of them becoming citizens within hours after the news first emerged.
At a press conference in Petaling Jaya, members of parliament from PAS, DAP and PKR said they would request for an emergency session to be held by the end of the week.
Yesterday, a registered voter named Mismah listed under the EC's "draft supplementary roll", was found to be a permanent resident bearing the red MyPR card according to the National Registration Department's website (http://www.jpn.gov.my/semakic/index.php). Hours after the discovery was reported, her status was listed as Malaysian citizen, with the same website now showing her blue-coloured MyKad.
At a press conference in Petaling Jaya, members of parliament from PAS, DAP and PKR said they would request for an emergency session to be held by the end of the week.
Yesterday, a registered voter named Mismah listed under the EC's "draft supplementary roll", was found to be a permanent resident bearing the red MyPR card according to the National Registration Department's website (http://www.jpn.gov.my/semakic/index.php). Hours after the discovery was reported, her status was listed as Malaysian citizen, with the same website now showing her blue-coloured MyKad.
It soon emerged that Mismah was not the only person accorded with 'instant' citizenship.
1,597 more
Titiwangsa PAS found another 52 such cases of red MyPR card at NRD's website being replaced with the MyKad status. This was followed by another shocking revelation by PAS that it had detected 1,597 more such cases across the country.
PAS vice president and Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub said between 1.06pm and 2.30pm yesterday, at least three voters had become 'instant Malaysians'.
“This is based on information from the NRD website itself and we have a total of 1,597 cases across the country,” he added.
The bulk of these cases were in Selangor, where some 1,108 permanent residents are registered as voters.
In the Paya Jaras state constituency, Salahuddin said, objections had been lodged over the existence of non-citizens in the list. However their status were changed to citizens in less than two hours.
'Normal procedure takes 10 years'
Describing the development as "dangerous", Salahuddin said it warranted serious attention as it involved national security.
“This cannot be ignored because it poses an immediate threat to national security. Permanent residents following normal procedure usually wait 10 years or more before they can be given citizenship status. Now we find that they can obtain it within hours!
"Pakatan Rakyat is confident that this changing of (citizenship) status is led by Barisan Nasional with help from government agencies,” stressed Salahuddin.
Salahuddin said the series of revelations was only the tip of the iceberg, adding that it vindicated Bersih 2.0’s claim of large scale fraud in the country's election system.
PAS's Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli said with the latest development, doubts were also cast over the on-going amnesty programme for migrant workers, in which the government would legalise more than a million illegal workers.
“We now doubt the real purpose of the registration exercise as we discovered that data could change so quickly,” said Hatta, who added that the Home Ministry, Immigration, NRD and EC were all involved in some kind of alliance.
Meanwhile, EC chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof blamed the fiasco on "technical glitches".
“I think the list of PR names in the NRD's website was the old one and not updated," he told Malaysiakini this morning.
PAS vice president and Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub said between 1.06pm and 2.30pm yesterday, at least three voters had become 'instant Malaysians'.
“This is based on information from the NRD website itself and we have a total of 1,597 cases across the country,” he added.
The bulk of these cases were in Selangor, where some 1,108 permanent residents are registered as voters.
In the Paya Jaras state constituency, Salahuddin said, objections had been lodged over the existence of non-citizens in the list. However their status were changed to citizens in less than two hours.
'Normal procedure takes 10 years'
Describing the development as "dangerous", Salahuddin said it warranted serious attention as it involved national security.
“This cannot be ignored because it poses an immediate threat to national security. Permanent residents following normal procedure usually wait 10 years or more before they can be given citizenship status. Now we find that they can obtain it within hours!
"Pakatan Rakyat is confident that this changing of (citizenship) status is led by Barisan Nasional with help from government agencies,” stressed Salahuddin.
Salahuddin said the series of revelations was only the tip of the iceberg, adding that it vindicated Bersih 2.0’s claim of large scale fraud in the country's election system.
PAS's Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli said with the latest development, doubts were also cast over the on-going amnesty programme for migrant workers, in which the government would legalise more than a million illegal workers.
“We now doubt the real purpose of the registration exercise as we discovered that data could change so quickly,” said Hatta, who added that the Home Ministry, Immigration, NRD and EC were all involved in some kind of alliance.
Meanwhile, EC chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof blamed the fiasco on "technical glitches".
“I think the list of PR names in the NRD's website was the old one and not updated," he told Malaysiakini this morning.
