KUALA LUMPUR — The Royal Commission of Inquiry’s (RCI) report on Pulau Batu Puteh recommending criminal investigations against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not for political revenge, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
He also denied making any recommendation that involved handing matters to the Attorney-General for prosecution.
Anwar said the previous government had also established a special task force, in 2021, to look into on how Malaysia lost sovereignty over the islet.
“The issue (of revenge) doesn’t arise. There was even a special task force which was formed before (I became prime minister), when (Datuk Seri) Ismail Sabri (Yaakob) was the Prime Minister…and (Datuk Seri) Hamzah (Zainuddin), (Datuk Seri) Takiyuddin (Hassan) were his ministers.
“This is about a territorial issue, is there ever a country that so easily hands over (sovereignty).
“I did not propose that anything should be handed over to the Attorney General’s Chambers,” Anwar told reporters after performing Friday prayers at Surau Darul Ulum, SMKA Putrajaya, today.
The RCI report on Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge was declassified and released recently.
Among its recommendations was for criminal investigations to be brought against Dr Mahathir for deceiving the cabinet in 2018 over his unilateral decision not to pursue a review of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2008 decision to award Batu Puteh to Singapore. The ICJ had awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia, while the boundaries of South Ledge was to be determined by both Singapore and Malaysia.
Yesterday, the RCI report was tabled in Parliament for debate, where opposition leader Hamzah said it showed “someone’s” personal grudge against Dr Mahathir.
Hamzah also questioned why Dr Mahathir alone was blamed when his entire cabinet at the time should also be held responsible.
The RCI found that Dr Mahathir had decided alone not to pursue a review of the ICJ ruling and had conveyed this decision to Singapore before informing his cabinet.
Previously, Dr Mahathir defended this decision on grounds that both Singapore and Malaysia had agreed with the ICJ at the time of its decision to abide with the court’s ruling.
He also insisted that the cabinet made a collective decision not the pursue a revision of the ruling. – December 13, 2024