12-12-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) Three prominent Malaysian political figures have strongly refuted former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s claims regarding the 2018 Cabinet’s involvement in the Pulau Batu Puteh sovereignty decision, intensifying the ongoing controversy surrounding the territorial dispute with Singapore.
In a pointed joint statement, former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, alongside current Cabinet ministers Anthony Loke and Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, challenged Dr Mahathir’s recent assertions, emphasising that the Cabinet was merely informed rather than consulted about the decision to withdraw Malaysia’s review application of the 2008 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling.
The trio maintained that Dr Mahathir’s written directive to discontinue the ICJ applications had effectively precluded any possibility of collective decision-making during the Cabinet meeting. “The suggestion that Cabinet members could have voiced objections is moot, as the decision had already been executed,” the statement outlined.
Their response comes in the wake of Dr Mahathir’s recent public statements, in which he claimed the decision was made collaboratively, citing the presence of senior ministers including Dr Wan Azizah, former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, and former Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during discussions.
Notably, recently declassified documents from the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) have revealed a crucial timeline that appears to support the trio’s stance. According to these records, Dr Mahathir had already communicated to the solicitor-general on 21 May 2018 that the ICJ applications “need not be continued.” More significantly, Singapore was officially notified of Malaysia’s withdrawal from the proceedings at 9am on 23 May 2018—thirty minutes before the Malaysian Cabinet convened to discuss the matter under “other matters.”
Loke and Mohamad, who retain their positions in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s current administration as Transport Minister and Agriculture Minister respectively, along with Dr Wan Azizah, who has since scaled back her political commitments, expressed confidence that other Cabinet members present during the 2018 meeting would corroborate their account.
