KUALA LUMPUR: A former minister in the 2018 Pakatan Harapan administration confirmed that the move to withdraw Malaysia's application to review the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) ruling on Pulau Batu Puteh was brought to the cabinet meeting that year.
Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, who was the housing and local government minister in the PH administration, said then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad presented the issue in the meeting.
She said no ministers in the meeting raised any objection.
"I only know that he presented it, explaining the situation. Nobody contested, no one argued, so we took it as agreed.
"We didn't say anything because at that time we had just joined the cabinet, and we were still settling in," Zuraida told the New Straits Times.
However, she could not confirm whether the matter was brought up in the cabinet meeting before or after the High Commission of Singapore was informed of Dr Mahathir's intentions at 9am, as per the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge report published last Thursday.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir once again denied that the move to withdraw Malaysia's application to review the ICJ's ruling on Pulau Batu Puteh was a unilateral decision.
Maintaining that it was a collective decision, he said his cabinet members in the then-PH administration were present when the review was tabled for discussion, but none of them commented on or objected to the move.
Previously, the RCI tasked with reviewing the handling of the Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge sovereignty case recommended that a criminal investigation be initiated against Dr Mahathir.
The RCI said Dr Mahathir withdrew the application to the ICJ for an interpretation of its ruling without consulting the cabinet in 2018.
Besides, it was found that the solicitor general Datuk Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek informed Singapore of Malaysia's intention not to proceed with both applications based on the former prime minister's letter dated May 21, 2018.
The RCI also discovered that, on May 23 that year, the High Commission of Singapore was informed of Dr Mahathir's intentions at 9am, both of which were before the Cabinet meeting that week.