[UPDATED] Art Harun flees Dewan Rakyat, blasted for rejecting debate on Sulu heirs’ seizure of Petronas assets

KUALA LUMPUR – In an exciting start on the first day of the parliamentary sitting today, Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun fled the august house after coming under intense fire when opposition lawmakers questioned why the motion to debate the seizure of Petronas assets by Sulu claimants was rejected. 

Azhar traded furious verbal blows with several MPs – Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Kota Belud-Warisan), Ramkarpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor-PH) and Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman (Sepanggar-Warisan) – after disallowing the issue from being debated today.

The ruckus reached a fever pitch and went on for more than 20 minutes that saw Azhar walked off.

He was relieved by Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon (Batu Pahat-Bersatu), who failed to quell the rage among the lawmakers.

Following the fiery exchange, Isnaraissah did not back down and was handed a two-day suspension by Rashid for interrupting proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat.

This saw several opposition MPs walked to her seat and surrounding Isnaraissah to prevent the bailiffs from removing her.

This is what led to the chaos erupting in Dewan Rakyat, subsequently @munirahmajilis's suspension pic.twitter.com/R8e0Iij9CW

— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) July 18, 2022

During the earlier part of the heated debate, Azhar was repeatedly questioned over his alleged conflict of interest after his brother Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun said he would “look into” the reported seizure of two Petronas subsidiaries over claims made by the descendants of the Sulu sultanate.

A clearly irritated Azhar said an emergency motion had been allowed in a parliamentary sitting before. 

Azhar: It has been discussed in great length and the economy minister has explained on the matter.

Isnaraissah: That is insufficient.

Azhar: Please don’t interrupt when I’m talking. So that was explained by the economy minister at that time. Everyone knows what is actually going on about Petronas’ assets in Azerbaijan.

Isnaraissah: Tuan Speaker…

Azhar: Just a moment. Secondly, I received legal views that it is really a sub judice matter because there are one or two more proceedings which are ongoing. 

In terms of conflict of interest, there is none, and I have never interfered in what my brother does. 

I don’t even speak to him about work. And if anything happens in the Dewan Rakyat which will touch on issues related to him, I will exclude myself from making a decision. Therefore, that is my decision on this.

Isnaraissah: Although the minister had explained it at great length, Petronas’ assets were still seized. 

Azhar: Yea, they have seized it. They will bring court action on their whim. Please.

Repeatedly shouting “standing order” while waving the blue Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat book, Isnaraissah then demanded for a date to be set to debate the issue.

“This is the third time I have submitted this motion to be tabled, but it has been rejected all three times. This is about the sovereignty of the country. 

“I demand for the speaker to give me a date for this motion to be accepted and debated. Give me a date!” Isnaraissah told Rashid in the middle of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan’s speech.

After being bombarded with persistent cries of "tuan speaker" and "standing order" by Isnaraissah, Rashid repeatedly said she could write an appeal to the speaker. 

At the same time, Azis insisted that the issue was a serious one as it pertained to the country’s sovereignty while Khalid Samad (Shah Alam) could be heard shouting even though his mic was turned off.

In demanding a date to debate the seizure of assets, Isnaraissah also raised her concerns over writing an appeal to the speaker, seeing that she had been thrice rejected and there was no guarantee her motion would be allowed.

Rashid then said the seizure was a “commercial decision by Petronas” – an answer that riled up Khalid, who retorted, “you must be joking, what commercial decision are you talking about... the seizure of Petronas assets is not a commercial decision, it is a threat to our sovereignty... we should discuss it.”

Khalid was admonished for using Azis’ mic to speak.

The Financial Times had earlier reported that the Luxembourg-registered subsidiaries of Petronas, Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and Petronas South Caucus, which the company manages in Azerbaijan, were seized by bailiffs on behalf of the defunct sultanate’s descendants.

Responding to the report, Petronas admitted they have been served with “saisie-arret” on July 11 but clarified that the two firms had been divested of all its assets and the proceeds from the exercise have been duly repatriated.

It is unclear whether the two companies were still active in Azerbaijan when the legal letters were served.

“Petronas views the actions taken against it as baseless and is working vigorously to defend its legal position on this matter,” it said.

The seizure is part of the award issued by a French arbitration court totalling US$14.9 billion to the heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate. 

Last Friday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the cabinet agreed to set up a special task force to examine, monitor and formulate appropriate legal action to address the issue of claims by the heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II (sultan of Sulu) against the Malaysian government.

Wan Junaidi confirmed that the task force will be led by himself. 

Other members, he said, include Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun, and international arbitration experts. – The Vibes, July 18, 2022