Last Updated: 2:04pm, Nov 20, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 20): "Yes, we said there were suspicious voters, but we never attach the number 40,000".

This was Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's comeback following the dismissal from Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday that her countrymen could have illegally voted in the previous general elections in May.

In a tit-for-tat, Anwar had a press conference in Parliament today arguing that the number 40,000 was a fictional specification perpetuated by Umno bloggers.

Anwar claimed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has misled the House as he mentioned the specific number in his budget speech, and now he was relaying that information to his Bangladeshi counterpart.

"We have explained and we have conducted an (internal) search (to check if Pakatan Rakyat has mentioned the number before).

"In our search, we have not mentioned the number," said the Permatang Pauh MP.

He said the Opposition had made three prior allegations on foreign voters but have always furnished the allegations with proof.

"(First), we alleged that the voters were brought through flight from Sabah and Sarawak.

"Second, Election Commission (EC) Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof has stated there were 62,000 dubious voters in the electoral roll.

"And third, I made a statement after the early voting process (in April) that there were dubious voters in the army where we had found names, IC numbers and nationalities ranging from Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Indonesia," he said.

Anwar also took a dig at Najib for asking the Bangladeshi PM to deny an issue that was essentially an internal state matter.

“How would she (Sheikh Hasina) know? This is an internal matter which should be monitored by the EC or a more independent body.

"The spin is done by Umno bloggers who claimed that Pakatan said there are 40,000 voters. Who said there are 40,000?" he said.

"Besides, the Sabah Royal Commission Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants have also proven that there were illegal voters in the list," he added.

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