COMMENT It is possible to rid the electoral rolls of phantom voters because the legal mechanisms to protect the integrity of the rolls are available in the Federal Constitution, the Elections Act 1958, the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations 2002 and the National Registration Act 1959.

But the first step is to remove the disease by taking action against the Umno operatives who conspire in issuing dubious citizenship documents to foreigners.

This was done in 1995 when Samsul Alang, Jabar Khan, Ajkan Ali, Bandi Bilo and other operatives were detained under Ops Kenal under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for the manufacturing of fake identity cards.

Again, this was followed by the Regularisation Exercise, under the auspices of the National Security Council in 1996, which allowed genuine foreign workers to remain and the forcible deportation and voluntary exodus of illegal immigrants.

NONE That was the tipping point in Sabah's long standing efforts to solve the illegal immigrant problems and the existence of phantom voters.

But if the Election Commission pretends that there is no problem, then there is no hope of a solution. In the 1980s, during the PBS state government era, the then Election Commission secretary Abdul Rashid, notoriously claimed that talk of phantom voters was "coffeeshop talk".

So, at the time, with the help of Institute of Development Studies (IDS) headed by Jeffrey Kitingan, I headed an Electoral Rolls Committee that scrutinised the entire electoral rolls and found 33,000 cases of duplicate and triplicate ICs in the Sabah electoral rolls.

Some genuine locals found that their IC numbers are shared by strangers, including the embarrassing case of a missing "German boy", who somehow also got registered as a voter.

The issue of fake ICs and phantom voters has re-surfaced in recent years. A proof was the case of "Jerome Majimbon", a foreigner, in Inanam, sharing the address of Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun.

MyKad issued in name of Taiwanese investor

Last week, a Taiwanese investor complained that a MyKad had been issued in his name to defraud him. In Sandakan, Tawau, Semporna and Lahad Datu, adults queue up to collect their MyKad, some of which are obviously suspicious cases.

Employers find that their foreign workers suddenly possessing MyKad. It is impossible that Umno, PBS, Upko, PBRS, Gerakan and MCA leaders are not aware of the on going issue of MyKad to unqualified foreigners.

It is the selfishness of Umno, and the collusion with of PBS with Umno, that has caused the issuance of MyKad to non citizens and the registration of phantom voters to re-emerge.

Upko president Bernard Dompok has asserted that the EC must accept the registration of voters based on Ics/MyKad issued by the NRD. This shows that the deeper problem is not registration of voters but illegal issuance of Mykads to foreigners that is ultra vires the constitution.

NONE In the last Parliament, Dompok's National Integrity Parliamentary Select Committee tried to probe this matter, but government officers refused to attend his meetings.

This is contempt of Parliament but none of the officers bothered and Dompok ( right ), a senior federal minister and a BN component party head, had to dissolve the committee. This is the reality of the power of Umno today.

In the 1999 Likas election petition, which Dr Chong Eng Leong highlighted again, the High Court judge found that that there were phantom voters.

The court finding was against the Election Commission, not against me. I was the victim, not a cause of phantom voters. Chong's PBS witnesses had testified that Umno operatives, not Yong Teck Lee or SAPP, who were responsible for the false ICs.

The evidence of phantom voters and fake ICs were given to Chong Eng Leong by his close buddies in Umno.

This led to the most speedy election petition trial in Malaysian history, the only case ever when a parliamentary seat (Gaya) by-election was called by the Election Commission against the open declaration of the then Parliament Speaker that there was no vacancy.

Chong had conveniently and consistently ignored the existence of phantom voters in other places like Kawang, a seat used to be held by his pai kau and gin rummy gambling partner, Osu Sukam. Another Umno leader who has a lot to answer for was the driving force of the then Sabah Umno Task Force on pengundi luar, Karim Ghani.

On the part of SAPP, we pledge to override the perennial problem of dubious MyKad and protect genuine Malaysians in Sabah when a SAPP state government will issue Sabah ICs to Sabahans and other genuine Malaysians permanently resident in Sabah.

YONG TECK LEE was the chief minister of Sabah from May 1996 to May 1998.