Pulau Batu Puteh inquiry: Mahathir walks out in protest against Apandi

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad this morning walked out in protest from the Attorney-General's Chambers where he was invited for an interview by a panel on tort misfeasance regarding the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh.

This comes after he learned that the panel was still being chaired by former attorney-general Apandi Ali, whom Mahathir said has a conflict of interest in the case.

The Langkawi MP arrived at the AGC in Presint 4, Putrajaya at 9.40am but promptly left after learning that the government has not changed the panel chairperson.

"I am not attending this inquiry session. We have already written letters to the office (AGC) to get an explanation on why Apandi was chosen to chair this panel.

"Apandi is a person who was involved in this case, (so) he should not be made the panel chairperson. Instead, he should be a witness.

"But he is appointed as chairperson of this thing. This is ridiculous," Mahathir told reporters when he was about to leave.

According to Mahathir's lawyer, the government had set up a special task force to review legal issues regarding Malaysia's claim on Pulau Batu Puteh, or Pedra Branca, which is located near Johor.

The special task force was set up with objectives, among others, to investigate claims that there was a possible issue of misfeasance by Mahathir in 2018 when the Pakatan Harapan administration he led decided to withdraw Malaysia's appeal in a review bid over the country’s sovereignty dispute with Singapore over Pulau Batu Puteh.

Putrajaya had filed an application in 2017 for review of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision in 2008, which ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh.

According to a Bernama report, ICJ also ruled that Malaysia had sovereignty over Terumbu Karang Tengah.

‘Appoint third party as panel chair’

Mahathir told reporters this morning that he would not answer any question from the panel as long as it is chaired by Apandi or anyone who has a conflict of interest in the matter.

"I am willing to cooperate, and I will give all information that is needed (by the task force), and I will also tell the truth because I am sure quite a lot of people have given wrong information and I need to correct that.

"However, as long as Apandi or anyone who has a conflict of interest is involved, I will not answer them.

"If they (government) want to be fair, they must appoint a third party who has nothing to do with the matter," he said.

Lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, who is a part of the legal team that accompanied Mahathir this morning, said the former prime minister had written to the AGC three times to express his objection against Apandi's appointment.

He said Apandi should not be allowed to be the judge in an issue that he was involved in.

On a matter of former Umno supreme council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman's bare-all in a press conference yesterday, Mahathir said this was proof that many things were being committed by Umno behind the rakyat’s back.

Tajuddin had trained his guns at Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday, urging him to step down and spilling the beans on Zahid's role in garnering the support of MPs for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to become a prime minister.

"Now we can see that there are many things that are kept from the rakyat. There are pacts made in an attempt to appoint a new prime minister.

"So, they played with the issue of changing the country's premier. Instead of focusing on managing the country, this is what they do," Mahathir said.

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