by: Joe Fernandez
If nothing is done by way of disinfection, Malaysia is finished in Sabah and Sarawak.
As the New Year begins, it’s apparent that Putrajaya suffers from two viruses picked up in Borneo, one in both Sabah and Sarawak and another in the former alone.
The second virus, it emerges from the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) Report, is that Putrajaya may have been party to illegalities in Sabah. (See http://www.sapp.org.my/rci/RCI-Eng.pdf.)
The electoral rolls, once gazetted, cannot be challenged. That’s the law, as codified by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
However, the process of gazetting of the electoral rolls can be challenged. A gazette is not law but merely a government announcement.
It cannot be the intention of Parliament or the intention of the framers of the Federal Constitution to allow the gazetting of tainted electoral rolls.
It’s case law that no election is free of fraud. What matters in law is whether the extent of fraud perpetrated in an election affected the outcome.
The question that can be raised, in the wake of the RCI Report, is whether the fraud perpetrated during an election in Sabah affected the outcome.
If the court deems the extent of fraud affected the outcome, it can nullify the result and order a fresh election or rule that the runner-up won.
This happened during one election in Bukit Bintang, a parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur. The court handed the seat to the runner-up from BN.
It cannot be argued, in law, that the alleged ICs in exchange for votes scam did not affect the outcome.
If they could not have affected the outcome, as claimed by the Home Minister, Chief Secretary and AG, why run the ICs in exchange for votes scam?
How can it be said to be solely the work of syndicates – which no longer exist, according to the Home Minister – when they could not have been the beneficiaries of the votes collected as a result of the ICs in exchange for votes scam.
The Election Commission, by its own admission, is not linked to the National Registration Department (NRD). It doesn’t check the validity of the ICs presented to it. Any Tom, Dick and Harry with an IC can register as a voter. How can the EC therefore claim, with a straight face, that the electoral rolls are “the cleanest in the world”.
Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, the former EC chairman, told the Perkasa General Assembly recently that he knew what to do during his 25 years with the EC to ensure that the Malays – he meant Umno – would never lose power.
An IC can be a genuine document but if the holder is not eligible in law to obtain it and not eligible to hold it, it’s a nullity in law as if it does not exist.
The Federal Government is subject to the Federal Constitution which all MPs have sworn to uphold during their oath-taking.
The Test of the Burden of Proof in this case is the Balance of Probabilities.
Under the Federal Constitution, foreigners can become citizens only by naturalization. This is a long process which begins after 10 years residence out of 12 years.
Putrajaya cannot use Article 30 of the Federal Constitution to give citizenship, whether under naturalization, registration or other categories, to illegal immigrants. The stateless would have to take the “special pass” route.
The intention of Parliament and the intention of the framers of the Federal Constitution decide.
Kota Kinabalu and Kuching must remind Putrajaya in no uncertain terms that the Federal Government can only issue citizenships to foreigners in Sabah and Sarawak if the Sabah and Sarawak governments are the initiating and recommending parties.
The poorest states
The first virus, picked up by Putrajaya in Sabah and Sarawak, is that Putrajaya needs to establish its legitimacy in Borneo.
Read Article 1 of the Malaysia Agreement 1963, Article 1(1) of the Federal Constitution, the definition of Federation in Article 160, the intention of the British and what they told Borneo, the Malayan Government and the UN, the intentions of the founding fathers in Borneo and what Tunku Abdul Rahman pledged in 1962/63 i.e. that Malaya would not colonize Borneo after the British left; and the two Borneo nations would be developed by the Malayan Government, which became the Malaysian Government, to be on par with the peninsula.
Neither of two promises has been kept. Sabah and Sarawak, despite their vast land and other resources, are the poorest states since 1963.
A virus is not a living thing, since it has no nucleus, but a form of intelligence. It can “live” outside a host body for a maximum four hours.
In a host body, the virus will take a nucleus from a cell and replicate rapidly. Since it paralyses the immune system or strips the body of it, you can’t kill it.
Another reason why you can’t kill a virus is that it mutates all the time.
These two viruses are in the body politic of Malaysia. If Putrajaya does not come to terms with Borneo, these two viruses will finish off Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak. (Free Malaysia Today)
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