Sarawak DAP accuses GPS of abusing immigration powers in Rayer entry ban
KUCHING, Nov 17 — Sarawak DAP today accused the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government of abuse for banning incumbent Jelutong MP RSN Rayer from entering the state yesterday without explanation.
Its chairman Chong Chieng Jen said Rayer was told at the Immigration Department counter at the Kuching International Airport about 5.30pm yesterday that he was banned from entering Sarawak.
“Rayer was then detained at the airport before boarding a flight to Penang about 9pm,” he told reporters.
Rayer was to speak at a ceramah in Batu Kawah in support of Chong last night when he was stopped by the Immigration Department and told he could not enter the state.
Chong said it is clearly an abuse of the state’s immigration powers to deny a fellow Malaysian from entering Sarawak on the ground that he was campaigning for the Opposition party in the 15th general election (GE15).
“While the GPS government denied a fellow Malaysian from entering Sarawak to campaign for the Opposition, it invited and allowed another peninsula Malaysian to enter to campaign for the GPS Stampin candidate, Lo Khere Chiang,” he claimed.
“Why ask a west Malaysian allowed to enter and campaign for you when you spoke so much hatred against west Malaysian?” Chong, who is defending his Stampin seat in the general election, asked Lo.
He also claimed that Lo would have a 3,000-vote advantage through the army and police votes.
He said there were 3,499 army and police voters in Stampin constituency, 2,802 of whom have cast their votes on November 15, in addition to 585 postal votes for army and police have been issued.
He claimed that based on the past voting records, 90 per cent of these typically went to Barisan Nasional before and GPS now.
He appealed to the voters in Stampin to come out in numbers to counter this.
