Dewan Rakyat adjourns with Batu Puteh RCI motion still pending

PARLIAMENT | Despite fiery speeches from both sides of the Parliament divide, no decision was reached regarding the government’s motion to back the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge.

Instead, at the end of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said’s winding up speech, she moved for the Dewan Rakyat sitting to be adjourned.

“Taking into account everything I have heard, as the responsible minister, in accordance with Standing Order 12(1) regardless of the previous motion, I propose that the meeting today be adjourned now,” she said.

Today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting the last one for the current session, with the next one scheduled to begin on Feb 26 next year. However, no date has been set for the motion to be raised again.

The government motion, among other things, calls on the Dewan Rakyat to “urge all parties to work together and support the government so that the findings and recommendations of the commission in the report can be affirmed and approved, and allow comprehensive action to be taken by the parties involved to tackle the weakness that has been identified and ensure national sovereignty continues to be protected”.

Ten lawmakers participated in the debates about the report after Azalina tabled the motion.

In the declassified report presented to Parliament on Dec 5, the RCI accused Mahathir of deceiving the cabinet in 2018 by withdrawing Malaysia’s appeal of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that awarded sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.

The RCI found that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad made the unilateral decision to halt the appeal without cabinet approval and only briefed them afterwards on his reasons.

‘Sensitive information’

Prior to Azalina’s tabling of the motion, opposition chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan brought up the issue of 47 pages being redacted from the RCI report, arguing that it should not be debated citing a “flawed document”.

Responding to the matter in her winding-up speech, Azalina said that part of the content of the report that if the RCI findings were to be made public, it would compromise national security or operations, as certain redacted information in the report is sensitive and involves matters of defence, intelligence, and other strategic issues.

“Furthermore, from a diplomatic sensitivity perspective, the waters surrounding Pulau Batu Puteh remain a contentious issue between Malaysia and Singapore.

“The report also includes sensitive information about ongoing talks and discussions between the two countries, which could harm future negotiations and relations,” she said.

Out of 10 lawmakers who participated in the debate, five MPs from each government and the opposition presented their arguments.

Out of five backbencher MPs who participated in the debate, only three supported or fully backed the motion as the other two - Willie Mongin (GPS-Puncak Borneo) and Hassan Karim (Harapan-Pasir Gudang) - opposed the motion.

‘Be fair’

Echoing the opposition lawmakers’ narrative, both MPs argued that it would set a dangerous precedent if the motion calls for the Parliament to prosecute a former prime minister for a decision that was made during one’s administration.

“When it is recommended that a police report be filed and criminal action be taken against Tun Dr Mahathir, who is nearly 100 years old and is frequently in and out of the National Heart Institute (IJN), are we willing to do this to our former prime minister?

“Tan Sri (Johari Abdul) knows that I am not a fan of Tun Dr Mahathir; I have been a staunch critic of him since my youth. However, we must be fair,” Hassan said, as the opposition aisle cheered in jubilation.

The opposition, led by Larut MP Hamzah Zainudin, fiercely contended that the investigation attached to the motion was done in mala fide (bad faith) due to its nature of pinning just one man.

Hamzah argued that it would be unfair to solely blame Mahathir for the decisions made regarding the sovereignty of the area.

He questioned the purpose and objective of the RCI report.

“It seems from the very beginning that the sole target is Mahathir. This raises the question: Are we truly doing this merely to punish him or to find fault with Mahathir himself?

“While there are recommendations for action against government officials and improvements to governance, all cabinet members should also be held accountable, as the Kota Bharu MP (Takiyuddin) mentioned earlier, due to the principle of collective responsibility.

“If the prime minister is to be held legally responsible, then the deputy prime minister (at that time) and I should also be held accountable. And if that's the case, then the president (Muhyiddin Yassin) should be held accountable as well since he was also a minister at the time,” he added.

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