MY ANSWERS to Tun Mahathir
1. Tun Mahathir did not answer the real question about Pulau Batu Puteh (Pedra Branca).
2. The real question was, what is the real reason behind PH Government rejection to proceed with the review of the Pulau Batu Puteh judgment.
3. It is true that the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) cannot be appealed. However, with the emergence of the latest evidence, an application for review was submitted by Malaysia in February 2017.
4. On 30 June 2017, Malaysia also submitted an application for the ICJ to interpret its 2008 judgment on Pulau Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan. The ICJ has agreed to hear Malaysia’s submissions by providing a date for the review hearing.
5. What Tun Mahathir may have forgotten was that two of the new pieces of evidence found were documents that could only be accessed after 2008. By law, the documents could only be accessed after the expiration of its confidentiality period.
6. The first document shows that Singapore’s top officials never considered Pulau Batu Puteh as part of Singapore.
7. The second document shows that the British Navy certifies that the waters in the area of the three islands are the waters and territory of Johor.
8.And the last document shows that the British naval operations map shows the territorial boundaries of Singapore excluding Pulau Batu Puteh.
9. All these documents clearly show that Pulau Batu Puteh is not within the territory of the republic.
10. It is only fitting that the discovery of this material evidence requires the ICJ to decide the validity of Malaysia’s claim.
11. So why despite all this new evidence, the Government decided not to continue the review process.
12.If Tun Mahathir has been advised by a group of international legal experts, who are they and what advice had they given in the context of the new evidence?
13. Clearly, the PH Government has been negligent in its actions in defending Malaysia’s territorial sovereignty and should be held accountable for such wrongdoing.
DATUK SERI MOHAMED KHALED NORDIN
Vice President
