KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anthony Loke, and Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu today asserted that there was no “room” for any collective decision-making on Malaysia’s stance on Pulau Batu Puteh after former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad accused them of remaining silent during their first Cabinet meeting in 2018.
The three former members of the second Mahathir administration said the Cabinet was only informed and not consulted during their weekly meeting under “other matters” about the decision not to proceed with the review and interpretation of the 2008 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Batu Puteh.
“Therefore, the issue of whether anyone objected or supported (the decision) did not arise, because there was no room for any decision-making when Mahathir had already done so in writing,” they said in a joint statement.
Dr Wan Azizah had served as deputy prime minister, Loke as transport minister, and Mohamad – better known as Mat Sabu – as defence minister in 2018.
Loke and Mohamad remain members of the current federal Cabinet led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and are currently in charge of transport and agriculture respectively while Dr Wan Azizah has reduced her political roles.
“We believe and we are confident that the other Cabinet members who were in attendance can confirm this,” they added.
Two days ago, Dr Mahathir asserted that he did not make a unilateral decision to drop the ICJ applications, instead saying that other ministers like Dr Wan Azizah, then-finance minister Lim Guan Eng, and then-home minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were present during the discussion.
“If they were against the idea, they could have spoken up, but no one said anything, so we have to assume they accepted it,” he was reported as saying by several local dailies.
Dr Wan Azizah, Loke, and Mohamad replied that Dr Mahathir should take responsibility for his decisions instead of attempting to shift the blame.
The declassified report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge recently revealed that Dr Mahathir wrote to the solicitor-general on May 21, 2018, stating that the ICJ applications “need not be continued.”
The solicitor-general subsequently informed Singapore that Malaysia would be withdrawing the two legal applications.
Singapore was informed of this decision at 9am on May 23, 2018, while the Malaysian Cabinet only convened at 9.30am that same day to discuss the matter under “other matters”.
