PETALING JAYA – The government should consider presenting details of the maritime boundary agreement with Indonesia to the Parliamentary Select Committee on International Affairs.
This could be considered since the government could not declassify the agreement to show it did not involve the Ambalat block, said former health minister, Khairy Jamaluddin.
“I did something similar during the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (PICK).
“Both sides of the government have MPs in the special committee and given the sensitivity of the border issues, this discreet approach could be recommended,” he said through an InstaStory on his Instagram account today.
He said despite non-disclosure agreements with vaccine manufacturers, he showed purchase contracts for the vaccines to the Public Accounts Committee.
“Based on this, the PAC then concluded that everything with regard to the purchase of the vaccines was properly done.
“This is something the government could consider doing,” said Khairy, who is also a former Umno youth chief.
Recently, Sabah Perikatan Nasional chairman, Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee had said that declassifying the agreement signed between the two countries during Indonesia President Joko Widodo’s visit to Malaysia in June could clear the air over the Ambalat issue.
He said it would also end speculations that Malaysia had signed off its interests in the Sulawesi Sea.
He claimed that maritime experts involved in protecting Malaysian territorial rights had warned Putrajaya not to sign any new agreements with Indonesia to solve the issue that had been under dispute for so long. – The Vibes, August 24, 2023