KOTA KINABALU: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has blamed low-ranking officers for giving identity cards to foreigners in Sabah.
The former prime minister told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Sabah’s illegal immigrant problem that there was never any government policy to issue the Malaysian identity cards to foreigners through dubious means.
He said that the government’s stand had always been that only those qualified were awarded citizenship.
Taking the stand for nearly 90 minutes, Dr Mahathir said among the criteria used to issue the cards was that the foreigners had lived in the country for many years, speak the language and adopt the culture.
