ADUN SPEAKS | The ghost of Pulau Batu Puteh remains to be exorcised. More so in the anticipation of the 15th general election.

Incumbent Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said has criticised the former Pakatan Harapan government under Dr Mahathir Mohamad for dereliction of duty.

Her contention is that Malaysia had a reasonable chance of gaining sovereignty over Batu Puteh if only the Harapan government had not withdrawn the appeal in 2018.

The last-minute appeal under the former BN government in 2017 was predicated on the grounds of new evidence that was discovered before the appeal to the International Court of Justice was prepared.

But alas, the new government of Harapan asked the then attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali to to take a break from his duties before he was finally sacked by Mahathir, who was the prime minister.

As result, Mahathir on the basis of expert advice, including those from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, withdrew the appeal.

The withdrawal of the appeal was a golden opportunity that was lost to Malaysia. Further appeals might not be possible because of the time bar under the ICJ statute.

Azalina regrets that the appeal that was so cleverly crafted under the guidance of Apandi, was thrown out of the window by Mahathir.

As a Johorean she is at pains to explain the terrible loss of the sovereignty of Batu Puteh. Her reasoning is that if only Malaysia had studied the matter carefully and diligently, Malaysia might have regained its sovereignty.

Even the Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar was visibly upset at the loss of Batu Puteh because historically the rock island was part of the Johor sultanate.

Of course, Azalina by using selective information omits to mention the fact that in 1954, the state secretary of Johor in a dispatch to the colonial office in Singapore unequivocally gave up the claim of Johor over Batu Puteh to the British in Singapore.

This was the piece of information in the arsenal of Singapore that sought to claim sovereignty over Batu Puteh.

New evidence

Azalina by raising questions and answers thinks that readers are naive. There is no need to engage in these as the answers given are politically tainted and meant to shore up the regime of BN or in fact Umno.

Mahathir might have made a mistake by withdrawing the appeal. I am not sure whether if the appeal had proceeded to ICJ, Malaysia might have won the case.

The problem with Mahathir was the fact he should not have withdrawn the appeal to ICJ. He could have taken a politically correct stand by allowing the appeal to proceed.

If Malaysia had regained sovereignty over Batu Puteh, it might have been a credit to Malaysia and the Harapan government.

However, Mahathir might have been right, the chances of overturning the ICJ were rather slim.

Azalina might be under the impression that if the appeal had proceeded, Malaysia might have won the case. This is typical wishful thinking on her part to cast the blame on the Harapan government.

I am not sure what new evidence she is talking about that was unearthed to shore up support for Malaysia. It is not that this evidence was not known to Singapore or Malaysia. Was the new evidence an excuse to go for the judicial review?

I regret to say that Azlina is barking up the wrong tree in exorcising the ghost of Batu Puteh. Yes, it is a terrible loss to Malaysia, but both countries jointly submitted their application to the ICJ.

The decision of the ICJ was binding. There is no need to be a crybaby about this loss.

Rather than raise a hue and cry about the loss of Batu Puteh, Malaysia should enhance the strategic value of the Middle Rocks.

P RAMASAMY is the Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.