Senator’s deportation, Sabah invasion ‘not the same’

A Sabah MP says it is 'unfair' to compare Lahad Datu's invasion with the deportation of Senator Nick Xenophon.

PETALING JAYA: The public should not compare Senator Nick Xenophon’s deportation with the invasion of Lahad Datu by heavily armed Sulu terrorists, said Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

He said this in response to public criticism of how promptly Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had ordered the arrest and deportation of Xenophon, but arrived in Kota Kinabalu only seven days after the police and the “militant army” faced a standoff after failing to come to an agreement over their demands.

“It is not even remotely the same. We’re talking about armed intruders coming to our shores and you want us to just go in without preparation?” asked Abdul Rahman.

He added: “If you think you can just go in the first two days without knowing how many there are and what weapons they have, it is suicidal.”

Abdul Rahman said ever since the incursions by armed Filipinos, the government had been busy doing “intelligence” to understand the terrorists’ movements and “what kind of weapons” they have.

“Now we know, and we are on standby. They are fully surrounded by our security forces in the air, on land and sea,” he said.

He added the situation is under control and negotiation with the armed intruders was in progress for them to leave peacefully.

“It is not remotely similar to Xenophon. These people are armed and we have asked them to leave A.S.A.P.,” he said.

Xenophon’s palm oil activism

Meanwhile, Labis MP Chua Tee Yong also felt the comparison was unfair. He claimed Xenophon was denied entry into Malaysia due to his criticism of the nation’s palm oil industry.

Xenophon had previously claimed that palm oil was high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat. He had also claimed that in Southeast Asia, the equivalent of 300 football fields were cleared of trees every hour for palm oil production.

Chua added it was “sad” that the opposition was asking other people “to interfere in the election process”.

“If they lose, they say it’s rigged. If they win, it is democracy,” he said.

He also accused Pakatan Rakyat of misleading what he described as “two groups” of the public.

“If you look into their [Pakatan] interviews, they are quite confident they will win. So it’s playing to two different groups of people.

“To their supporters, they say ‘we’re heading there’. To the public, they are saying we [BN] will cheat” said Chua, who is also the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry.