KOTA KINABALU – Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has clapped back at former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak for calling its president “crazy” over the Project IC fiasco.
Jonnybone Kurum, who is the political secretary to PBS president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili, said his boss was given that label for merely speaking based on facts mentioned during the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the large presence of illegal immigrants in the state.
“To us, it is okay for Ongkili to be called ‘crazy’ for speaking up on behalf of the people,” said Kurum, who is also Telupid assemblyman, in a statement yesterday.
Yesterday, Salleh lashed out against Ongkili, accusing the latter of slandering Barisan Nasional (BN) over the migrant IC issue.
Speaking at the Sabah BN Convention, the Umno stalwart said he was furious over Ongkili’s statement that the ruling federal coalition was involved in giving migrants ICs before they were redesignated as MyKad.
Yesterday, Onkili alleged that a BN component party that handed out Malaysian identity cards, in exchange for votes, is threatening Malaysia’s sovereignty.
“The president exposed the truth of BN’s past sins and its betrayals of the constitution. Yes, we were part of BN then, and we did voice out our stand and complaints, and even made proposals, but they were never addressed,” Kurum said.
“As the president had stressed during the congress, it is time to correct the past and solve the illegal immigrants’ menace, once and for all.”
He also said Salleh and Sabah deputy minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin should not be too emotional over Ongkili’s statement, as former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak revealed in a social media post that it was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was behind Project IC.
“Whatever our president (Ongkili) had said on the issue was not fabricated. It was all based on facts, and we have the RCI report to back our claims,” he said.
Meanwhile, Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said Ongkili’s claim on Project IC proves that Warisan has never issued such documents as alleged by political rivals.
Warisan had previously been accused of a similar scheme involving the Sabah Temporary Card (PSS) proposal, while Pakatan Harapan was in the federal government.
The PSS was scrapped after Warisan lost in the Kimanis by-election in 2020, which rival parties had used this campaign.
“All this while, we (Warisan) had been hurled slander (over the PSS), but today (Datuk Seri) Maximus Ongkili also said that a party in Barisan Nasional had done this,” he told reporters during a meet and greet session in Bongawan, Papar, yesterday. – The Vibes, July 3, 2022
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