Bersatu MP accuses PM of 'misleading' Dewan Rakyat on Icerd, Rome Statute

Former foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah has referred Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to the Parliament's Rights and Privileges Committee for allegedly misleading the august house and imputing improper motives against him.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament, Saifuddin quoted Anwar's remark in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, "...on the Rome Statute and Icerd (International Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination), you have to ask Indera Mahkota (Saifuddin). He pursued it without cabinet’s approval at the time".

Saifuddin cited a cabinet meeting held in December 2018 when he served as foreign minister as a then-PKR MP in the first Pakatan Harapan-led federal administration.

"The fact is that Tambun (Anwar) lied, and therefore, he has misled the house. The meeting at that time decided for Malaysia to ratify the Rome Statute.

"There was a cabinet paper that I signed as (then) foreign minister and that decision was made.

"That was why I ratified the Rome Statute on behalf of Malaysia on March 4, 2019," said Saifuddin.

However, a month later, then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute and as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Motion received

Further, Saifuddin reiterated that matters related to Icerd, which Mahathir's administration had decided against ratifying, were under the purview of the former minister in the prime minister's department P Waythamoorthy.

"So, to me, both of his (Anwar's) statements on the Rome Statute and Icerd have misled the house and contained improper motives towards me," he said.

Saifuddin added that he submitted his motion through a letter to the Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul yesterday.

Earlier, Johari, who presided over the sitting that resumed after lunch, confirmed receipt of Saifuddin's motion.

Johari also said he has written to Anwar, and that any further decision will be made based on the response received.

On Tuesday, Anwar was present in the Dewan Rakyat for Prime Minister's Question Time, and his remark was made during an exchange with Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Perikatan Nasional-Machang) on whether Malaysia would lobby ICC member countries to refer Israel for war crimes in Gaza.

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