PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s refusal to respond to his objections to the appearance of former attorney general Tan Sri Apandi Ali as chairman of the Batu Puteh task force.
He said he had stated his objection against Apandi’s appointment in two letters dated May 23 and June 21, but there were no replies.
“No answers were given to my requests. So there was no issue of a last-minute objection. Instead, my objection was never addressed,” said Dr Mahathir in a statement yesterday.
Dr Mahathir said that in the May 23 letter, he argued that there were elements of conflict of interest as Apandi had been the official who sought a review of the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
On the Batu Puteh issue, Dr Mahathir said Apandi had openly criticised the Pakatan Harapan government’s decision not to appeal the ICJ decision.
“He (Apandi) was a petitioner in this case and appointing him as the head of this body goes against the ‘rule of law’ and ‘natural justice’ that clearly states ‘no man shall be the judge of his own cause’,” he said.
Dr Mahathir claimed his concerns, however, were ignored and he was told to attend an interview session on June 28, at which the interviewers nominated by the task force were senior lawyers Datuk Dr Baljit Singh Sidhu and Datuk Tengku Ahmad Fuad Tengku Ahmad Burhanuddin.
Dr Mahathir sent another letter on June 21, where he stated his opposition to the appointment of Baljit Singh and Tengku Ahmad, and sought clarification on Apandi’s appointment as the task force chairman.
This was because both of them were lawyers to Apandi in a suit against Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister then, for terminating Apandi’s services as attorney general in 2018.
As Dr Mahathir’s said in his earlier objection, he believes Apandi is a person with involvement in the case and should be a witness for the task force and not lead it.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi had criticised Dr Mahathir for abruptly leaving a scheduled interview session on Tuesday after the former prime minister had learned that Apandi was still the chairman of the task force.
Meanwhile, Johor Speaker Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi has offered to take legal action against Dr Mahathir over the loss of Batu Puteh to Singapore.
In a Facebook post, Puad criticised Dr Mahathir for “causing the country to lose its claim over the rock forever”.
He added that he supported Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi’s call for legal action to be taken against those responsible for the loss of Batu Puteh.
“Tun M must be sued and pay the compensation, and RM3bil is the most suitable figure.
“As such, I am offering to be the one taking legal action against him as this is a matter of dignity ... he sold Johor and the country’s sovereignty,” Puad said in his post.
He claimed that it was not widely known that on Feb 2, 2017, Apandi, who was the AG then, had submitted a letter to the ICJ for a judicial review of its decision on Batu Puteh.
The ICJ then set June 11, 2018, for the hearing, he said.
However, on May 14, 2018, four days after Pakatan Harapan formed the Federal Government, Apandi was asked to go on leave and the then solicitor-general Datuk Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek assumed his place, said Puad.
