COMMENT On the cover of its report, the royal commission tasked with probing the overwhelming presence of foreigners in Sabah has now become a ‘commission of enquiry’, minus the ‘royal’.

 

The commission, when formed two years ago, was given the task to shovel into the decades-old problem and unearth the truth, but as specified by its terms of reference, without necessarily having to find the culprits responsible for the influx. 

 

It was called a royal commission, and even Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had referred to it as such.

 

"It is hoped that the people of Sabah will take advantage of this RCI (royal commission of inquiry) and together with the government find the strategies and best approaches to tackle the problems concerned," he said in a 2012 statement announcing the commission.

                                   

Yesterday, however, the commission was apparently stripped of its royal status with its officials claiming that it was actually a “commission of enquiry” right from the beginning.

 

This is despite that the six members who sat in the commission, including its head, former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, were appointed by the king.

          

With bated breath, many had waited for this long-awaited report, where the focus was to be on the so-called Project IC - illegal immigrants allegedly granted instant citizenship in return for votes.                     

 

But when the report was unveiled after an exhaustive inquiry, it fell short of expectations.

 

Questions unanswered

 

Many questions were left unanswered, and politicians as well as concerned groups on both sides of the South China Sea were flabbergasted.

 

The commission had cleared the government and political parties of having a hand in such a nefarious scheme, but at the same time, conceded that Project IC could have existed.

 

However, the commissioners pointed the finger at clandestine syndicates comprising ex-National Registration Department (NRD) officials, who raked in millions of ringgit.

 

How the NRD and Election Commission can be duped into registering up to 69,000 foreigners was not revealed.

 

Far from being convinced, Sabah politician Jeffrey Kitingan said the government could not be free of blame when it is responsible for the issuance of identity cards.

Rest assured that in the days to come, critics would plunge their knives into the heart of the commission as well as Najib.

 

Judging from the disappointing findings and even more dispiriting recommendations, perhaps the RCI was not a faux pas after all.

 

Perhaps it was just an ‘enquiry’ and not an ‘inquiry’, crafted by the powers-that-be to pacify Sabah voters ahead of the last general election.

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