Mahathir's Scandalous Justification

Mahathir’s Scandalous Justification

by K.Siladass

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has justified the granting of citizenship to migrants who had illegally entered this country, especially Sabah on the ground that they have been staying in Malaysia for decades and they and their children speak Malay. He also equated their status with those who have been living in this country, but who cannot speak the national language yet accepted as citizens.

Those who entered this country illegally do not qualify for citizenship, and their entry and stay in this country being illegal cannot by any stretch of imagination be considered as fulfilling the legal requirements of the law. When the statutory provisions are disregarded and citizenship rights conferred on the illegal migrants, their status has not altered.

The big question that surfaces is their status as citizens of this country and their eligibility to vote in the country’s General and State elections. Those who were born here and had applied for citizenship were denied, although they are not here illegally. And, Mahathir compares them with those who entered the country illegally which is absurd.

Mahathir and his government had been insensitive to the plight of those who had legitimately aspired to become citizens and who had been languishing in uncertain conditions for far too long, yet, illegal migrants were extended the privilege of cordiality and recognition.

The crucial question now is: Those who illegally entered the country and acquired citizenship through illegal means with the connivance or active encouragement of the Mahathir government should be given the privilege of deciding the fate of this country. Aside Sabah will the National Registration Department clarify how many illegal migrants in Peninsula Malaysia have been granted with Malaysian citizenship.

Mahathir’s justification of allowing illegal migrants to become citizens of this country shows his visceral contempt for the minority. For the sake of convenience and to cause racial imbalance he has shown that he had been doing things contrary to law.

The present Government should take positive steps to mend this fissure of statutory provisions and make it clear to the public whether it would countenance Mahathir’s violation or reject it outright. Election Commission must now decide in the face of Mahathir’s scandalous admissions whether those who obtained Malaysian citizenship illegally can continue to remain as such and vote in the General elections.