Anwar denies GE13 claims

OPPOSITION leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of misleading the Dewan Rakyat by saying that Pakatan had claimed 40,000 Bangladeshi foreign workers had been registered as voters in the country.

Anwar said the opposition had checked and found that it had never made such allegations.

"We spoke about foreign voters and voters being flown in but never about these 40,000 being registered by the Election Commission (EC).

"These allegations were made in pro-Umno blogs," he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Checks by the New Straits Times showed a report dated May 2 by the party's online news portal, www.keadilandaily.com, had quoted Anwar as saying that the prime minister's office had arranged for 40,000 phantom voters to be flown in before the 13th General Election.

Last month, when tabling the 2014 Budget and addressing the Malaysian population breakdown, Najib had quipped that the figure did not include the "40,000 Bangladeshis who were brought in as phantom voters in the recent 13th General Election as alleged by the opposition".

"Till today, no one has seen them or their shadow," he said.

Anwar said EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Mohd Yusof had said there were 62,000 dubious voters in the electoral roll. He said Pakatan had proof that Bangladeshis, Filipinos and Indonesians formed part of the early voters.

"My question is, how can these people be included in the early voting list, which is reserved for army and police personnel and their spouses?"

Anwar also questioned Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's statement denying claims that 40,000 of her countrymen had been deployed to vote for Barisan Nasional.

"How did she know this as this is an internal matter that is monitored by the EC? An independent commission needs to verify this claim (of different nationalities being included in the early voting list)."

Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim criticised the opposition for alleging that 40,000 Bangladeshis had voted for BN.

He said only 12 Bangladeshis had been granted Malaysian citizenship in the past 10 years.

Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yesterday urged Anwar to lodge a police report on the matter.

"I would like Anwar to clarify whether he wants to make an about-turn and deny that he had accused BN of bringing in 40,000 Bangladeshis to vote in the GE13.

"If he is indeed denying this, I urge him to lodge a police report on this matter immediately."

Read more: Anwar denies GE13 claims - General - New Straits