PUTRAJAYA: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied being treacherous to the country, saying that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision on Batu Puteh was accepted in line with commitments made to other countries.
He said the decision was made with the full agreement of the Cabinet in 2018, as the Middle Rocks awarded to Malaysia are considered to be more valuable than Batu Puteh, which was awarded to Singapore.
The 99-year-old former prime minister also criticised the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), stating that the hearing was held behind closed doors and the publicly released report had 47 pages redacted, which seemed to "hide something."
Dr Mahathir made these comments at a media conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation on Tuesday (Dec 10) in response to the RCI report on the handling of sovereignty issues involving Batu Puteh.
On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said elements of treason were found by the RCI in its report on the handling of sovereignty issues involving Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge.
"We find that we should not claim any more than what was given by the ICJ. The decision to drop the appeal against the ICJ decision was based on advice from experts,” said Dr Mahathir.
He added that the principal expert was Professor Malcolm Shaw QC, who stated that an appeal against the decision would have potential adverse interest to Malaysia if the ICJ decision on Batu Puteh was questioned.
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"The ICJ may very well reverse its decision and we may even lose Middle Rocks. That is why we took the time to consider,” said Dr Mahathir.
He added that he felt that the claim should be dropped after studying the matter.
“This was conveyed to the then-Cabinet, some of who are still in the current government, and did not object,” he added.
Dr Mahathir then said that the deputy prime minister at the time, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, sat next to him in that Cabinet meeting and did not object.
“It was assumed that they agreed. These ministers who are still in the government should have been called as witnesses to the RCI hearing,” said Dr Mahathir.
The whole objective of the RCI was to come to a decision that I had made a wrong decision without consulting the then-Cabinet," he added.
