KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Former two-time Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has responded to his former Cabinet members regarding the 2008 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Pulau Batu Puteh.
In a statement, he said that if Cabinet members choose to remain silent or fail to express disagreement, it is assumed that they agree with the information or presentation provided.
“Do they need me to tell them that they need to give their new opinions or views, or will they do so?
“Secondly, if my view on the issue is wrong or if they disagree with it, they will not object or give their opinion because I am just informed?” he asked.
Dr Mahathir reiterated that he is being made a scapegoat on the issue.
“It is not a question of whether I accept responsibility for the issue, as I was the head of government at that time. The question is whether they are willing to shoulder responsibility as part of collective responsibility when serving in the Cabinet.
“If not, then they have failed to carry out the trust given to them simply because they did not wish to provide their opinions on what was informed to them in the Cabinet meeting.
“As I recall, it was minuted in the Cabinet meeting that all members, including the three of them, agreed with my views or information, which detailed my stance on the issue,” he added.
In a joint statement, Dr Mahathir’s former deputy Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, and Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu who was then agriculture minister, asserted that there was no “room” for any collective decision-making on Malaysia’s stance on Pulau Batu Puteh after Dr Mahathir accused them of remaining silent when the issue was raised in a Cabinet meeting in 2018.
The three former members of the second Mahathir administration said the Cabinet was only informed and not consulted during their weekly meeting under “other matters” about the decision not to proceed with the review and interpretation of the 2008 ICJ ruling on Batu Puteh.
