Wan Junaidi granted audience with Johor Sultan over Pulau Batu Puteh issue

Photo from Sultan Ibrahim Facebook page.

JOHOR BARU: Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was granted an audience with the Johor Sultan over the Pulau Batu Puteh issue.

The meeting between Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) lasted for about an hour at Istana Pasir Pelangi here on Thursday (Oct 21).

According to His Majesty’s official Facebook page, Wan Junaidi brief the Johor Ruler about the Pulau Batu Puteh issue.

Also in attendance was Johor Royal Council president Datuk Rahim Ramli.

This comes after Sultan Ibrahim demanded a clear explanation on Oct 14 as to why the Federal Government under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2018 dropped the review application for the Pulau Batu Puteh case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

His Majesty likened the move to “declaring defeat even before going into battle,” as the issue concerned Johor’s sovereignty.

Following this, Dr Mahathir said on Wednesday (Oct 20) that when both Malaysia and Singapore agreed to refer the case to ICJ, both nations agreed in writing to abide by the decision as final, with no appeals.

“Final is final. If a country does not honour its promises, no nation will respect it, no nation will enter into an agreement with that country concerned,” he said.

Dr Mahathir added that both nations agreed to negotiate the issue and subsequently agreed to refer it to the ICJ after a settlement could not be reached.

In May 2008, the ICJ ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh while South Ledge would belong to the state in whose territorial waters it was located.

The Barisan Nasional government filed a review of the ICJ's decision in February 2017, but the

Pakatan administration decided to withdraw the application for a review in May 2018.

On Oct 9, the current government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob formed a special task force to conduct thorough research and propose suitable options for the Cabinet’s further action.