N Gobalakrishnan, the parliamentarian who was denied entry into Sarawak, has disputed the state government’s claim that it was not involved in banning him.

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Office Daud Abdul Rahman told Bernama yesterday that the decision to ban the MP was made by the Immigration Department.

"People are free to come to Sarawak but if the Immigration Department denies entry, we (state government) cannot do anything about it," he said.

However, the Padang Serai MP said Immigration officers at the Kuching International Airport had told him that the directive to ban him came from the state secretary.

“When the Immigration Department showed me the notice that I was denied entry to the state, I informed them about the section in the Immigration Act stating that it has no jurisdiction to ban a parliamentarian from entering (the state).

“That was when they showed me a letter from the state (government) signed by the state secretary stating that I could not enter Sarawak,” he said when contacted today.

Daud had yesterday argued that the Immigration Department must have its reasons for preventing a certain individual from entering Sarawak, and this could included matters relating to security.

He added that the Sarawak government was not fearful of the frequent visits to the state by Peninsula-based opposition leaders, who had vowed to oust the BN government in Sarawak.

According to Daud, opposition leaders such as PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim and DAP’s Lim Kit Siang

were free to enter the Borneo state.

‘Why the sudden U-turn?’

Yesterday, Gobalakrishnan told Malaysiakini that there were two reasons why he was banned from entering Sarawak on Wednesday.

http://www1.malaysiakini.com/news/95473

According to the Gobalakrishnan, he was kicked out of the state because the opposition is increasingly becoming a threat to the Sarawak government and for his speech in Parliament attacking long-time Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Having visited Sarawak many times, Gobalakrishnan said he did not face any problems with the state immigration until this week.

Gobalakrishnan said his most recent visit to the state was last week when he was in Lubok Antu, south of Kuching, to help the locals in their Christmas preparation.

In addition, he said the state government had invited him to attend the Gawai Day celebrations in June.

“Why the sudden U-turn?” he asked.