PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin says former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should not be brought to court over the handling of Malaysia’s sovereignty dispute on Batu Puteh, describing it as collective decision by the Cabinet in 2018.
Last week, a declassified report by the royal commission of inquiry on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge recommended that a criminal probe be opened against Mahathir as he had likely acted deliberately to influence the Cabinet to discontinue an application to review and interpret the 2008 ruling by the International Court of Justice on Batu Puteh.
In a statement today, Muhyiddin, who was the home minister during Mahathir’s second stint as prime minister, said it would be inappropriate for a former prime minister to be prosecuted for a decision that was endorsed by the Cabinet during his administration.
“If such an action were to take place, it would set a bad precedent for the country,” he said.
Muhyiddin, who is also a former prime minister, said that once the Cabinet makes a decision on a matter, it becomes the collective responsibility of every Cabinet member to accept it.
He said although the issue was discussed during the Cabinet meeting under “other matters”, that should not have prevented any Cabinet member from voicing their opinion.
“The notion that the prime minister must take personal responsibility for decisions made by the Cabinet does not arise. It is a shared responsibility,” he said.
“The issue of betrayal to the country also does not arise,” he said in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who said the RCI report had revealed treachery committed against Malaysia.
On Tuesday, Mahathir denied acting unilaterally when making the decision not to proceed with an application to the ICJ for a review of its decision awarding sovereignty over Batu Puteh to Singapore.
Putrajaya filed an application on Feb 3, 2017 to review the ICJ’s decision, handed down nine years earlier, to award Singapore sovereignty over Batu Puteh.
The ICJ awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia, while the ownership of South Ledge, situated about 4km from Batu Puteh, was left for determination based on the delimitation of territorial waters.
On June 30, 2017, Putrajaya filed an application to interpret the ICJ’s judgment to address its ambiguities and implications, particularly regarding the status of South Ledge.
However, upon wresting control of Putrajaya at the general election in May 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government, with Mahathir as prime minister, withdrew both applications before they came up for hearing in June 2018.
The issue was raised during the PH government’s first Cabinet meeting on May 23, 2018.
In a joint statement today, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Loke Siew Fook and Mohamad Sabu said they were only informed of Mahathir’s decision not to proceed with the applications during the Cabinet meeting.
Wan Azizah, Loke and Mohamad were the deputy prime minister, transport minister, and defence minister, respectively, at the time.
