DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has rubbished the newly formed royal commission of inquiry (RCI)  on illegal immigrants in Sabah who have obtained citizenship, describing it as a "sham and a meaningless" general election ploy.

He said the exercise is an attempt to hide the "loss of confidence" in Sabah BN following the defection of a deputy minister, a parliamentarian and a senator disillusioned with the state ruling coalition.

NONE Lim criticised the panel's terms as being "extremely limited"  as there is no mention of the power to identify the source of the issue and the culprits responsible for handing out citizenship unlawfully.

"(The panel has) no power (either) to make recommendations to punish those responsible or how to resolve the problem," he said in a statement.

"This failure to probe and (act against) the culprits effectively means that the commission is toothless and another meaningless trick to delude Sabahans ... who have already been cheated for the last 25 years.”

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced the setting up of the RCI to investigate Sabah’s illegal immigrant problem and suspicious population boom over the last two to three decades.

Led by the former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, the royal panel’s main task is to investigate if foreigners have been unlawfully awarded Malaysian identity cards (IC) or citizenship.

It will also check if the holders of such ICs and citizenship have been included in the state’s electoral roll.

‘Questionable timing’

Lim said this is a "critical" problem because the interests of the local population have been affected and their political rights usurped.

azlan He questioned the timing of the commission, saying that this is merely for "show" ahead of the general election.

If Najib were "truly sincere", the commission would have been set up a long time ago, he said.

"After years of refusing and then more delays after announcing it earlier this year, it is questionable that the RCI should be formed so hurriedly on the eve of an impending general election.”

"Sabahans will never forgive the BN for this diabolical and treasonous act, especially when it is now clear that the much-anticipated RCI will be nothing more than an election charade.”

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