DATUK Seri Azalina Othman Said has defended the cabinet’s decision to establish a royal inquiry on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge, stating it would help the government to formulate stronger laws to protect Malaysia’s sovereignty.
The Law and Institutional Reform Minister said the government has obtained the outcome from the task force to review laws relating to sovereignty but it still had limitations.
Azalina noted the inquiry would allow the government to understand what went wrong and find ways to remedy the issues, adding that this was the reason why she plans to table the State Immunity Act in the forthcoming parliament.
“The royal inquiry is a follow-up to the task force. They have come out with their report, but there are still some limitations,” she told reporters in Penampang here today.
Azalina is on a one-day working visit to Sabah, where she launched the Justice on Wheels Programme in Penampang as part of her trip to the state.
Yesterday, the cabinet approved the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to examine issues concerning the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge but the decision was met with mixed reactions, including questions about the need for one since the International Court of Justice has already made a decision.
In 2008, the ICJ determined that Batu Puteh was under Singapore's sovereignty, Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia, and South Ledge pertained to the state within its territorial waters and in 2017, Malaysia approached the ICJ seeking an interpretation of the judgement.
Malaysia attempted to overturn the ICJ ruling in 2018 under the administration led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad but the application was withdrawn.
A task force to review laws relating to sovereignty was formed on October 29, 2020 and took nine months, from November 9 2021 to August 30, 2022, to present its final report to the cabinet.
According to Azalina, once the State Immunity Act was enacted the country would have the highest level of protection and that foreign nations cannot challenge our sovereignty.
“The Sulu case is also similar to Batu Puteh, it's an issue of sovereignty. Sovereignty is not something that can be decided only by one person. There cannot be any mistakes in sovereignty.
“We need to learn from the Sulu case. We cannot make mistakes. It is not just about borders or islands. It also involves many other things,” she said.
Azalina said the government cannot go further without extracting the whole process and outcome of the task force as they were classified documents under the Official Secrets Act.
She said only with the inquiry the matter would be deliberated openly.
“We need to understand with the present geopolitics, the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) is very concerned about Batu Puteh, and what happened in the past to Batu Puteh, it cannot happen to other islands under our control, whether it is under the state or federal.
“Anwar is someone who wants to make sovereignty the main focus of the Malaysian people. The government aims to be fair; we want to investigate what went wrong and how,” she said.
Azalina also noted that the government would not be able to assert its sovereignty if the country has political instability, adding that the voters must allow the government to complete the job first, before deciding in the next election. - The Vibes, January 25, 2023
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