Home minister erroneously claims witnesses’ presence isn’t required when filling party form

Home minister Ali Ihusan told the Parliament on Wednesday – albeit erroneously - that the physical presence of witnesses isn’t required when filling out and signing membership forms to join political parties.

In 2024, when the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) conducted a nationwide membership drive to boost its membership, allegations emerged that senior government officials were misusing privileged information of citizens in the Department of National Registration (DNR) database and other state resources to create fake forms to drive up the party’s membership.

The PNC was accused of creating thousands of fake forms to inflate its membership – prompting investigations by both the police and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Amid the investigations, photos and videos emerged showing Ihusan observing as senior officials at the Home Ministry filled PNC membership forms inside a meeting room at the DNR.

Ihusan, who was summoned to the Parliament on Wednesday morning, was questioned regarding these allegations by parliamentarians.

Responding to these questions, Ihusan said that witnesses aren’t required to be present when party membership forms are filled, adding that this was evident if one takes a look at PNC membership forms.

“If you look at the form, you’ll see the witness is required to sign it. They verify the accuracy of the information on it. If they attest to the information on the form, they do not need to be physically present. So, this is a great misconception,” he said.

However, this claim is not completely accurate.

Copies of PNC membership forms obtained by Sun show that witnesses attest not just to the accuracy of the information on the form, but also that the form is signed in their presence.

“We hereby attest that this person signed this form to become a member of the political party in our presence, and that the information they provided is accurate,” reads the part where the witnesses’ signatures are required.

Speaking further, Ihusan said that he would take action against any staff member of DNR found to have signed a fake membership form.

He added that the authorities have not noticed any instance where a senior official from the Home Ministry or any other state institution signed a fake form as a witness.

“The day that we are informed of such an occurrence is the day we take action against the employee in question, without exception, no matter who they may be,” he said.

Ihusan does not deny that Home Ministry officials filled out party forms at the DNR premises, but he denies they misused DNR data or created fake forms.

With regard to his photos at a meeting room as ministry officials filled membership forms, he reasserted his claim what he had gone their because he was invited there to have some pizza.

Back in February, Ihusan told the Parliament that each cabinet minister had been instructed by the PNC leadership to submit “a specific number of” new membership forms. He said that he handed over the task to the political appointees at his ministry, who filled out 1,700 forms from “a meeting room situated on the same floor as the DNR.”

Ihusan said that while he does not believe it to be a crime, he believes that political work shouldn’t be done within the premises of a trusted state institution, and had therefore instructed against carrying out any such work inside any of Home Ministry’s offices.

PNC later admitted to submitting several unverified membership forms to the Elections Commission. But they said it hasn’t been deliberate, and that the party lacks the capacity to verify forms.

In the wake of the fake form scandal, the EC digitalized the political party membership process so that people can only apply for membership via eFaas.