KUALA LUMPUR: Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim, a self-declared critic of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has disagreed with the Batu Puteh Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report’s recommendation to initiate criminal investigations against the former prime minister over the 2018 decision.
Debating the report in the Dewan Rakyat, Hassan said he agrees with most of the recommendations of the report except for one.
"I disagree with the recommendations of this commission that a police report be lodged against Tun Dr Mahathir under the Penal Code," he said.
He said that while there was a legal basis for the recommendations, he questioned the necessity of taking criminal action against the nonagenarian former PM.
"Are we willing to lodge a police report and criminal investigations against Tun Dr Mahathir who is almost 100 years old and is going in and out of IJN," he said.
"Tan Sri (Johari Abdul) you know I am not a Mahathir admirer. I have been his staunch critic since I was young but we must be fair," he said, addressing the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.
He asked if Dr Mahathir is punished, will Malaysia regain the lost territory, adding that the country lost the claim during another prime minister’s tenure.
"Enough is enough, if no police report has been made, then please don’t do it," he said reminding that Dr Mahathir has contributed much to the country.
"I as a staunch critic appreciate his contributions," he said adding no other prime minister who had been as brave as Dr Mahathir had defended parliamentary democracy.
The RCI on the handling of sovereignty issues involving Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan had proposed that a criminal investigation should be brought against Dr Mahathir.
It reported that he had made the decision unilaterally to not proceed with the filing of the applications to review and interpret the 2008 International Court of Justice’s(ICJ) decision in the territorial claim with Singapore.
Dr Mahathir denies the claims of the RCI, saying that the Cabinet at the time had listened and raised no objections to the decision.
The RCI report on Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan was tabled on Dec 5. It was chaired by Tun Md Raus Sharif and tasked with reviewing the handling of matters related to the sovereignty of the territories.
In February, the government announced that His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, had consented to the establishment of the RCI.
The issue stems from a decision made by the government in 2018 to withdraw Malaysia's application to review the International Court of Justice's decision on the sovereignty of Batu Puteh.
At the time, the government was led by Dr Mahathir.
In 2008, the ICJ ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore while Batuan Tengah was awarded to Malaysia.
It also ruled that the ownership of Tubir Selatan would be determined based on the delimitation of territorial waters.
Malaysia applied to review ICJ's ruling in 2017 but it was then withdrawn in May 2018.
The RCI report said that Malaysia could refile the new interpretation application at any appropriate time.
