Cabinet minutes show ministers agreed to drop appeal on Batu Puteh verdict, Dewan Rakyat told

Minutes of a 2018 Cabinet meeting attended by 13 ministers and chaired by Dr Mahathir Mohamad show that they had agreed to drop Malaysia's appeal against the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision to award Batu Puteh island to Singapore, contradicting claims by several Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders that the decision was made unilaterally by the then prime minister.

Excerpts from the minutes of the meeting minutes dated May 23, 2018 - the day the then PH government decided to drop Malaysia's application to review the decision - were read out by Perikatan Nasional MP Takiyuddin Hassan in the Dewan Rakyat today.

"The Cabinet agrees that Malaysia's application to the International Court of Justice for review and interpretation of the decision on 'Sovereignty over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge' will not be pursued," said the Kota Bharu MP, quoting from the minutes which he said were sent to him anonymously.

"This was a Cabinet decision. Several Cabinet members were present at the time.

"To me, this is the minutes of a Cabinet meeting on May 23, and until proven otherwise, this is a valid document of the minutes of the Cabinet meeting on that day," he added.

The revelation of the minutes comes at a time when three PH leaders who served as ministers under Mahathir said they were not consulted on the decision not to proceed with the review and interpretation of the 2008 ICJ ruling on Batu Puteh.

The three - Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anthony Loke and Mohamad Sabu - were responding to Mahathir's challenge to PH leaders who served as ministers in his Cabinet to state whether they had opposed the decision or remained silent.

"All these people were there in the Cabinet meeting, and if they had any complaints or objection they should have spoken up, but because they didn’t say anything we assumed that they all agreed," Mahathir said on Tuesday, in response to the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, which recommended that he be investigated under the Penal Code for the 2018 decision to withdraw Malaysia’s application to review the ICJ judgement.

"I was prime minister twice, people in the Cabinet know that some of my proposals in the past were rejected by Cabinet members,” said Mahathir.

Ruling MPs defend Mahathir

Meanwhile, at least two government MPs - PH's Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim and GPS's Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin - spoke out against any move to investigate and bring criminal charges against Mahathir as recommended by the RCI.

"If we punish Dr Mahathir, will we get Batu Puteh back?

"I am not a fan of Dr Mahathir, I have been his staunch critic since young, but we have to be fair," Hassan said.

"Enough is enough, has Dr Mahathir no contribution at all to our nation? The ministers here, their offices are in Putrajaya, who built them? 

"After this meeting, some of us are going back to Kangar, to Johor Bahru, who built the highways?

"When we step out of this parliament, there is a building shining radiantly and known all over the world, who built all that?" asked Hassan as he was greeted with applause from the opposition.

Hassan then referred to Article 182 of the Federal Constitution,  and hailed Mahathir as the only prime minister who had the courage to defend the people's democratic rights for striving to remove Malay rulers' immunity from criminal prosecution.

Willie warned of the consequences of taking criminal action against Mahathir.

"Are all our ministers yes-men? They had the right to say they disagreed with the prime minister," he asked to cheers from the opposition bench.

"We cannot allow a precedent to be set where parliament is used as a tool by certain people."

He said taking action against Mahathir would only encourage future government leaders not to speak up.

"We cannot bring in personal issues or, for lack of a better word, we cannot bring in malice. Parliament must not be hijacked," Willie added.

Meanwhile, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who was also part of the PH government under Mahathir, criticised former ministers for failing to speak out while at the same time refusing to take collective responsibility.

"If you disagree, you should stand up and resist, not remain silent," he said.

Syed Saddiq said if the ministers did not have the necessary knowledge on the Batu Puteh issue, they could always ask Mahathir more time to study it further.

"Was there a single minister who stood up? No," said Syed Saddiq, who was not yet part of the Cabinet when the decision was made to drop Malaysia's appeal.