Disappointing, says Eng Leong

Kota Kinabalu: The rejection of the motion for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry on Sabah Illegal Immigrants in Parliament on Thursday is disappointing, said Parti Bersatu Sabah Supreme Council member, Dr Chong Eng Leong.

He said the motion should have been allowed and supported by the Sabah MPs because "it is not anti-Barisan Nasional nor pro Pakatan Rakyat but a matter of defending the sovereignty of Sabah within Malaysia".

In a statement, Friday, Dr Chong said the counter proposal by Datuk Anifah Aman to set up the Parliamentary Select Committee to solve Sabah problems might not succeed.

This was based on past experience like the committee chaired by Tan Sri Bernard Dompok "when there was a directive from the higher-ups not to cooperate", he said.

"So what guarantee can we get that the issue will be solved? We have experienced before that the Parliamentary Select Committee (on Integrity) did not work so why not just go for the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI)," he asked.

He said now that Sabah and Sarawak appear to be keeping the Barisan Nasional government from collapsing they should be brave enough to expose the Project IC.

"Aren't we all patriotic to Malaysia? To solve this we need strong political will starting from the State Government. PBS has two State Cabinet members both of whom were very local when in opposition.

"Can't they reason with (Chief Minister) Datuk Seri Musa Aman on this?

What is there to hide? Then reason with the Prime Minister," he said.

"We took part in the formation of Malaysia primarily to safeguard security and sovereignty. Who shall be the next Prime Minister to solve Sabah's woe if the present one is still procrastinating?" he asked.

Dr Chong said just after the election Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had stated he had heard what the people wanted him to hear.

"Perhaps, he had heard Sabah's voice also but his heart is not with us. The Prime Minister's only concern is the peninsula. I don't believe he would do anything concrete to solve this.

"We must make sure the next Prime Minister has the will to help us," he said.