PKR Wanita chief says barred from S’wak

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR Wanita head Zuraida Kamaruddin said she was denied entry into Sarawak yesterday, hours after Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg vowed not to bar Opposition leaders from the state.

Zuraida said she was detained at the Miri Airport at about 2pm yesterday, and failed to negotiate her way past Immigration officials.

“Ha3 I am deported from Miri @ AzminAli,” she wrote on Twitter, tagging the account of PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

Pakatan Harapan will hold a political gathering at Taman BDC in Kuching tonight, and Abang Johari earlier pledged to allow the pact’s leaders such as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Lim Kit Siang, and Dr Hatta Ramli to enter Sarawak and attend.

He further said Sarawak only did not welcome extremists.

Sarawak Pakatan Harapan chairman Chong Chieng Jen yesterday expressed concern that the pact’s leaders could be prevented from entering the state, citing the state government’s previous decisions to prohibit entry to some opposition lawmakers.

Among those still barred from entering Sarawak are Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, Subang MP R. Sivarasa, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, and Parti Sosialis Malaysia deputy secretary-general Bawani S. Kanniappan.

Sarawak has full autonomy over its immigration and is empowered to deny entry to nonnatives.