KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said his decision not to appeal for a revision of the world court’s decision to award Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore was made in consultation with the then-Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and lawyers.
He said he had also presented the matter to his cabinet, which agreed to drop the appeal.
“Among those present included (then deputy prime minister) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anthony Loke, Gobind Singh Deo and Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu. All this is in the government records,” Dr Mahathir said in a statement today.
He denied accusations that he had made a unilateral decision in withdrawing Malaysia’s application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to revise its 2008 ruling which awarded Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.
“The many public accusations of me making the decision on the Pulau Batu Puteh case alone or in secret…are not true.
“As far as I can remember, before I made my decision I consulted the AGC and got opinions from relevant lawyers.
“After that, I presented the matter to cabinet members and they all agreed not to continue with the appeal,” Dr Mahathir said, referring to the cabinet in 2018 under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
Then-attorney-general, Tan Sri Apandi Ali, who served under the PH government until June 2018, has said previously that Dr Mahathir never consulted him on stopping Malaysia’s appeal for the ICJ to review its decision as he (Apandi) was on garden leave before leaving his post as AG.
Apandi, in February 2017, said Malaysia had applied to revise the ICJ’s ruling, citing documents declassified by the UK’s National Archives. This application came nearly a decade after the ICJ’s decision.
On June 30, 2017, Malaysia also filed a separate application to request an interpretation of the ICJ’s judgment.
However, on May 30, 2018, the PH government under Dr Mahathir withdrew the applications, two weeks before June 11 when the filings were supposed to be heard at the ICJ.
He later said that respecting the ICJ’s decision was the main reason for the withdrawal.
The withdrawal meant that Malaysia could no longer challenge Singapore’s sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh, as applications for revision must be made within 10 years of the judgment.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman also said earlier this year that one “individual” – implicating Dr Mahathir – was responsible for Malaysia losing Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.
Dr Mahathir has since been blamed by political critics for failing to protect Malaysia’s sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh, and the government this year formed a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to review how the matter was handled.
The former two-time prime minister said he would not attend RCI proceedings on the issue due to a conflict of interest with its chairman Tun Md Raus Sharif.
In his statement issued through his lawyer Rafique Rashid, the nonagenarian said he was denied his right to be fairly represented at the RCI meeting, which he claimed took place today – adding that neither he nor his lawyers knew about it.
He said he or his lawyer had the right to be present – given the accusations against him – to explain or defend his position.
“When my lawyers found out about the RCI proceedings, they tried to present themselves and submitted several applications and objections.
“All applications and objections were rejected and the RCI proceedings will continue in private
“What is strange is why this RCI proceeding was held in secret when it was announced publicly.
“Members of the government gave opinions and made accusations against me openly before this RCI convened,” Dr Mahathir said. – May 21, 2024