There is no need to worry over the possibility of foreigners being registered as voters or cases of dubious voters, as they must produce their MyKad to register or vote.

NONE "No foreign citizen can be registered as a voter, as the identity card (MyKad) must be used in the registration process.

"As for dubious voters, they still need to produce an IC to vote. If they cannot do so, they cannot vote," Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz ( right ) told the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said this when winding up for the PM's Department in the debate on the royal address.

As such, Nazri said, foreigners or voters of dubious origin would not be able to vote as by right none of them would be able to produce a MyKad.

Nazri explained that this was in accordance to Article 119 of the constitution, which allows only Malaysians to vote.

“There are 33 levels of checks via the the ALIS system, which links agencies to the National Registration Department, and the system will reject voter registrations from those who are not citizens,” argued the minister.

He was responding to concerns raised by opposition MPs while debating the royal address.

Electoral system in ruling government's favour

Cases of foreigners allegedly registered as voters and of 42,000 dubious voters with incomplete information that the Election Commission itself admitted to have been opposition fodder to push for electoral reforms in a system they claim has been weighted to favour the ruling government.

NONE Nazri also brushed aside the call by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) for a special committee to ensure fair elections, saying that the parliamentary select committee (PSC) for electoral reform is already doing the job.

When Lim stood up to press the issue, arguing that the issue was the lack of transparency in the current system, not just the technicalities handled by the PSC, Nazri hit back at him.

“This is like what a Year Six student would say... Not what I would expect from a veteran parliamentarian like you.

“Why would you say something stupid like that? You were an MP when I was still in school,” sniped the minister.

As Nazri continued his winding-up, more opposition MPs stood up to refer to issues concerning irregularities in the electoral system.

Special meeting with EC proposed

Saying that he did not have answers to the issues as they were  either new matters not raised during the debate or something that only the EC could answer, Nazri then proposed a special meeting to address those concerns.

“Since all the MPs are here, I suggest that we meet with the EC in the coming weeks, maybe on the 16th of next month, and I shall be there myself, so that the commission can answer.

“If possible, we can give advance notice so they can come prepared with answers,” offered Nazri.

The opposition MPs agreed and said that they looked forward to the meeting.