Adenan not showing liberal attitude, says DAP's Chong

Adenan: 'These developments were among the progress the state had made in the five key areas of negotiations with Petronas.'

KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem (pic) has not shown a liberal attitude by banning opposition leaders from entering the state, said a DAP lawmaker.

Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chien Jen said the reasons given by the state government for not allowing the opposition leaders into the state made no sense at all.

"The official reasons given by the state government to prohibit entry are religious bigotry, extreme racism and disturbing the peace.

"Such reasons are not the slightest bit convincing or applicable to opposition leaders on the list, such as Tony Pua, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Teresa Kok or Mohamad Sabu because none of them have uttered racist or religiously extremist statements," Chong told a press conference.

Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching was among the latest personalities to be put on a plane back to the peninsular after arriving at Kuching International airport last week.

Chong said the government was sacrificing the principles of justice and fairness and Adenan was ruining all the good image he had built thus far.

Describing the ban as unlawful, Chong said he would send a letter directly to the Chief Minister calling on him to lift the ban.

"Sections 66 and 67 of the Immigration Act say that there shall not be any restriction of entrance of non-Sarawakians for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activities.

"Unless you view that preparing for the elections is not a legitimate political activity, there is no good reason to ban opposition leaders," he said.