‘We wanted to but we did not ratify statute’

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional did indeed look at the possible ratification of the Rome Statute but it decided not to go ahead as they believed it was against the Federal Constitution, says former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Recalling what happened during his tenure, he said: “It is the duty of a responsible government to discuss and consider United Nations conventions.

“However, why did the Barisan discussions not lead to the ratification even after seven years up to the 14th General Election?

“There must be reasons. This was because the Barisan government had listened to and accepted the advice of the then Attorney General that it (Rome Statute) may contradict the Constitution and laws of the country.

“Unlike the Pakatan Harapan government, we never announced to the world that we will ratify and then make a U-turn. We never signed anything to ratify,” said Najib in a Facebook posting, shortly after a forum on Rome Statute took place yesterday.

Panellists at the forum had revealed that the process to ratify the Rome Statute began in 1998, under Najib’s tenure as prime minister, and the Pakatan government was merely completing the process by ratifying it.

G25 spokesperson Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin stated at the forum that she had headed the Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry and the proposal to accede the Rome Statute received the support of Najib and his Cabinet.

The Pakatan government retracted the rati­fication after pressure from parties including Umno, which claimed that the statute may interfere with the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers and the King.

Noor Farida, after the forum, explained that despite the then Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC) objection to the accession, her department had managed to persuade the Cabinet to ratify in 2011.

“The Cabinet overruled the AGC’s objection in 2011 and decided to ratify the Rome Statute then,” Noor Farida claimed.

For reasons best known to himself, the Foreign Minister at that time did not want to sign it, she claimed.

“The AGC gave a memorandum giving all their reasons for objection, including worries over the sovereignty of the King and his position as the commander of the armed forces – but we rebutted every single reason given and the government was persuaded by our arguments,” she recounted.

“The then ICC president Song Sang-hyun had come to Malaysia and we arranged for him to participate in a forum in Malaysia, in promoting the Rome Statute in the Asia-Pacific Region.

“I also accompanied Song to visit Najib and (at that time) he was very supportive that we should accede,” said Noor Farida.