Kuala Lumpur: The government will organise a “detailed” briefing for all 222 MPs on the ongoing dispute with heirs of the last sultan of Sulu over compensation for the cession of Sabah.
Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said the briefing will be held next week and hoped that all MPs will raise their questions on the issue during the briefing session.
On Feb 2, the ministry said Putrajaya received an official confirmation that a Spanish constitutional court had rejected an appeal by the group claiming to be heirs of the last sultan of Sulu in their ongoing dispute with the government.
The heirs were seeking to challenge a lower court order which annulled the appointment of an arbitrator to preside over the dispute.
In February 2022, a French arbitration court instructed the federal government to pay US$14.92 billion (RM62.59 billion) to the descendants of the last sultan of Sulu.
Arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa ruled that Malaysia had violated the 1878 agreements between the old Sulu kingdom in the Philippines and a representative of the British North Borneo Company that used to administer what is now Sabah.
The previous government had organised a briefing on the issue at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on July 21 last year for opposition and independent MPs
However, the briefing session was classified under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA), with the media told not to report on the private briefing.
