MEMBAKUT: Former Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has hit out at his successor, Mohamad Sabu, whom he says is not paying serious attention to security in Sabah.
The Sembrong MP and former Umno vice president said that Mohamad was “clueless” when asked about security plans for the state while tabling a white paper during a recent Cabinet meeting.
“I felt pity, because he doesn't know anything. The (security) threats touch on the stability of this region… and what has happened to our agreement with Indonesia and the Philippines? What happened to the base camps we established and asset movement to Sabah?
"There was no answer. Are Sabahans not worried? If we do not speak up, we will be guilty. So we will voice this out in this Kimanis by-election to send a message to Mat Sabu (Mohamad), so he pays serious attention to the security in Sabah," he said.
Hishammuddin said this while delivering a ceramah to villagers as part of the ongoing by-election campaign at the Kimanis Mandahan district polling centre here, last night.
He said that the 2013 Lahad Datu intrusion should serve as a lesson to all not to take security matters, especially the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) issue, lightly.
With Barisan Nasional (BN) being tested in the Kimanis by-election, he stressed that the PSS issue is closely-linked to security and should not be merely a political matter.
"If we do not have a mechanism to filter out (illegal immigrants), trust me, as the former home and defence minister, that this (PSS) is unacceptable if it is not discussed with the people of Sabah on how to tackle (illegal immigrants)," he said.
He added that there is no guarantee that the PSS will help weed out 600,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah.
Speaking to the media after the ceramah, Hishammuddin expressed his concern that the PSS, which he said was introduced without having been discussed in detail, would pose a serious danger to Sabah.
He also claimed to have no knowledge of the Sabah Resident Pass, which Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) claims was proposed and approved by the BN government in 2015.
When pressed on whether there was truth to the claim, Hishammuddin replied: "I don't know".
"If BN started it, it definitely would have had a negative effect, and the Sabah people would have rejected it at that time," he said.
Hishammuddin also said that such a pass was never brought up in Cabinet, stressing that it is not a simple matter, as it involves the future of Sabah.
Warisan vice-president Datuk Junz Wong had recently challenged BN and Parti Bersatu Sabah to deny that a special pass meant to be issued to foreigners in Sabah was approved in 2015.
Junz said the Sabah Resident Pass was proposed by the Immigrants in Sabah Management Committee, which was formed on Dec 3, 2014, after approval by the federal Cabinet, then led by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Junz said that the pro-tem committee had been jointly chaired by the then Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the then Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
Subsequently, the then Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, took over the matter, and the Sabah Resident Pass was approved in July 2015.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is slated to visit Kimanis, where he is expected to give a press conference on the PSS, among other issues.