PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has accused three of his former Cabinet ministers of lying about Malaysia’s decision to withdraw the application for review and interpretation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision on Batu Puteh.
“The leaked Cabinet meeting minutes show that the statements made by the three ministers are untrue and false.
“I am ashamed because they were in my Cabinet at the time but lied,” he said when speaking to reporters after flagging off the Post-Flood Humanitarian Mission Convoy here yesterday.
In a joint statement on Dec 12, former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, former defence minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu and Transport Minister Anthony Loke claimed that Dr Mahathir made the decision not to proceed with the review and interpretation regarding the Batu Puteh issue in writing to the Attorney General without consulting the Cabinet first.
However, according to the minutes of a Cabinet meeting on May 23, 2018, which was read out by Perikatan Nasional Chief Whip Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan in Dewan Rakyat on Dec 12, the decision to withdraw the applications was recorded as a collective Cabinet decision.
“The leaked Cabinet meeting minutes show that the statements made by the three ministers are untrue and false,” said Dr Mahathir.
In their joint statement, Loke, Mohamad and Dr Wan Azizah said Dr Mahathir had merely “informed” the Cabinet on May 23, 2018 about his “unilateral decision” to drop Malaysia’s appeal in the Batu Puteh case.
However, Loke maintained his stance yesterday, arguing that no briefing was given to the Cabinet on the issue involving Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan in 2018.
Loke said everyone should read the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in its entirety, which had laid out the entire chronology and background of the issue.
“The RCI pointed out that the major flaw was the process of decision-making and the way forward is to look at how decisions are made.
“For such an important matter involving national sovereignty, the process should have been more thorough,” he said to reporters after delivering a keynote address at the Malaysia-China Summit at an exhibition hall in Kuala Lumpur.
Loke reiterated that Dr Mahathir only informed the Cabinet about his decision on the issue.
“Honestly, to many Cabinet members there, it was our first meeting. We didn’t even know what a memorandum Jemaah Menteri (Cabinet paper) looks like.
“After that, we only knew that Cabinet decisions need to be made based on the Cabinet paper, and it has to go through all the processes, with all ministries and relevant agencies to give their feedback and comments.
“After looking at the feedback, only then can we make a more informed decision. Looking back, this was not the case,” said Loke.
He said Dr Mahathir raised the issue verbally at the Cabinet meeting, without providing any documentation.
“The issue was raised verbally without any paper. So, all Cabinet members were actually not briefed about the background of the entire issue,” said Loke, who nonetheless confirmed that the decision was eventually endorsed by the end of the day.
In a highly redacted and declassified report tabled in Parliament on Dec 5, the RCI recommended investigations over offences of cheating under Sections 415(b), 417, and 418 of the Penal Code that resulted in the loss of Batu Puteh.
It also recommended that the RCI secretary lodge a police report to initiate the probe.
In February, the government announced that His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, had consented to the establishment of the RCI to look into the 2018 decision to withdraw Malaysia’s application to review ICJ’s decision on the sovereignty over Batu Puteh.
In 2008, ICJ ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore while Batuan Tengah was awarded to Malaysia.
It also ruled that the ownership of Tubir Selatan should be determined based on the delimitation of territorial waters.
