[UPDATED] Putrajaya will use all powers, rights, resources to stop Sulu demands: Azalina

KOTA KINABALU – Putrajaya will use all powers, rights and resources available to stop the demands of the defunct Sulu Sultanate on Malaysia, law and institution reform minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said today. 

She said a special briefing session by the government’s Legal Affairs Division and the Attorney-General’s Chambers gave this assurance to the Sabah state government and members of the Sabah community at the Magellan Sutera Harbour today.

Others giving briefings were representatives of the special secretariat on handling the Sulu heirs’ claims, namely Prof Datuk Sundra Rajoo and Datuk Feroz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin.

Azalina, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said the federal government will not compromise on the country’s sovereignty and security, and will continue to take all necessary actions to stop the claims.

“The unity government is committed to the affairs of the people of Sabah and will work hard every effort to ensure Sabah’s peace, prosperity, and security are always guaranteed,” she said in a statement today. 

The briefing to the Sabah state government today follows a similar session with Sabah MPs yesterday.

Azalina said the sessions are meant to explain the background involving the Sulu heirs’ claims and developments related to the law regarding their actions in four jurisdictions: Spain, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

Court-appointed heirs of the last Sulu sultan, Jamalul Kiram II, have been taking legal action through arbitration in these countries over RM63 billion compensation for land in Sabah they claimed belonged to their ancestors.

They made claims on two Luxembourg-based subsidiaries of Petronas in July last year.

In January, the district court of Luxembourg set aside an attachment order on the two arbitral awards, which were held to have been delivered unlawfully.

The Luxembourg court also granted interim relief to Malaysia over an ex parte exequatur order recognising the claims, which means the court accepted Malaysia’s challenge against the Sulu heirs’ claims.

Last week, however, Luxembourg court bailiffs were reported to have issued fresh seizure orders for two units of national oil firm Petronas.

Azalina, who yesterday described the latest action as “commercial piracy”, said that the self-proclaimed heirs may be targeting other government-linked companies. She said Putrajaya is being “very alert” as any company could be a target. – The Vibes, March 1, 2023