Dr M sent letter to S’pore
before Cabinet decision,
says RCI
The royal commission of inquiry finds that the ex-prime minister acted unilaterally in dropping legal applications regarding the ICJ’s 2008 decision on Batu Puteh.
The RCI said the then prime minister had written to the solicitor-general on May 21, 2018, stating that “to my view, this effort need not be continued”, referring to the ICJ applications.
The solicitor-general then informed Singapore that Malaysia would be dropping both legal applications, the commission said in its declassified report released today.
The RCI said Singapore was informed of this at 9am on May 23, 2018. The Cabinet only met at 9.30am the same day and discussed the issue later in the meeting under “other matters”.
It added that the Cabinet in its meeting “simply confirmed Mahathir’s views and opinions as the prime minister”.
“The solicitor-general informed Singapore of Malaysia’s intention to drop the two applications based on Mahathir’s letter on May 21, not the Cabinet’s decision when it met on May 23,” said the RCI report.
It also cited a letter from the solicitor-general to the prime minister on May 24, 2018, which stated that she had informed Singapore based on Mahathir’s letter on May 21.
“Mahathir did not question, deny or correct the contents of the solicitor-general’s letter to him to explain that his May 21 letter was merely his personal opinion, not an order or decision.
“Based on these reasons, the commission cannot accept Mahathir’s claim that the May 21 letter was merely his personal opinion. Conversely, the letter was a decision,” said the RCI.
Mahathir had denied acting unilaterally in deciding not to proceed with the legal applications, saying he did not make a decision until he put it before the Cabinet.
He also said he consulted several experts, including five senior lawyers from the UK, who took the view that Malaysia had a weak case.
Mahathir said international legal expert Brendan Plant, who was appointed as a consultant by Putrajaya, had told him Malaysia lacked the “silver bullet” needed to secure victory in the case.
However, the RCI said Mahathir was never advised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) or government-appointed consultants that Malaysia had a “very weak” case in its territorial claim to Batu Puteh.
The commission said Plant also denied ever meeting Mahathir one-on-one prior to a briefing on the case.
During RCI proceedings, Plant said his mention of Malaysia lacking a “silver bullet” was to show that there was no guarantee of a win at the ICJ.
“I might have been asked (by Mahathir) about the prospects for success. I restated our position that there’s an arguable case, that we have a credible basis for bringing the claim that has merit but, of course, we can’t guarantee a win.
“I can’t say that there’s a silver bullet that will 100% guarantee the ICJ’s findings would be in our favour, but there was a credible plausible case to present. That’s the truism of litigation throughout the world,” he said, according to the declassified RCI report.
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