JOHOR Ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar decreed that action should be taken against those responsible if negligence was found to be the cause of Malaysia’s decision in not filing an appeal against International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision to award Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.
“The committee must ascertain the real reason on why former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration decided to abandon the case review.
“If the allegations of negligence in the matter are true, this warrants stern action against those responsible. This is a matter of our nation’s sovereignty,” His Majesty said in a Facebook post.
During Pakatan Harapan’s reign, the Mahathir-led administration decided to not file an appeal over ICJ’s decision to award Pulau Batu Puteh/Pedra Branca to Singapore.
Earlier this week, both former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Penang deputy chief minister Prof P Ramasamy criticised Mahathir for not following up on the matter.
“Mahathir has to answer for this colossal failure. He should not try to blame others, which is a familiar trait of his if something goes wrong,” Ramasamy was reported saying in an opinion piece.
Since then, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had established a committee to probe on why the administration then did not pursue legal challenges on claims over Pulau Batu Puteh.
If you don’t like Johor…
Touching on the matter, Sultan Ibrahim said that not pursuing the case then was as good as admitting defeat even before going into a legal battle in the ICJ.
The Ruler added that the Government had found new evidence in Johor’s favour but had no chance to press the case as someone decided to drop the suit.
“Why? This is what upsets me most. We declared defeat even before going into battle. Was Johor’s sovereignty not important to the Government at the time?
“Why were we treated like a step-child state? If you don’t like Johor…
“How would Kedahans feel if Malaysia lost Langkawi to Thailand?” His Majesty queried.
Johor menteri besar, Datuk Hasni Mohammad has given assurance that the state government would cooperate with Putrajaya’s committee on the matter. – Oct 14, 2021.
