Neither fair nor productive to go after Dr M, says Hassan Karim

 

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim told his fellow MPs that although he is not a ‘Mahathir fan’, the former prime minister has made ‘vast contributions’ to the country.

KUALA LUMPUR: 

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim has called on all MPs to reconsider a royal commission of inquiry recommendation to initiate a criminal probe against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over his handling of the Batu Puteh issue.

The PKR MP, who made the impassioned plea during a debate in the Dewan Rakyat, argued that pursuing criminal action against the nearly 100-year-old statesman would be neither fair nor productive.

“He is 100 (years old). Are we willing to go after him? I am not a fan of Mahathir. I’ve been a staunch critic of his since my youth … but we must be fair.

“Can we really take him to the police station, to court, and sentence him to prison? Will it bring us back Batu Puteh?,” he said when debating a motion on the RCI.

He said Mahathir should be remembered for his vast contributions to the country, such as the development of Putrajaya and the North-South Expressway.

“Many of us here sit in offices he built. When we leave Parliament at night, we see buildings lit up in the skyline thanks to his vision,” he said.

“I support almost all the RCI’s findings, except this one. Enough is enough. I hope no one files a police report against him.”

Putrajaya filed an application on Feb 3, 2017 to review the International Court of Justice’s decision, handed down nine years earlier, to award Singapore sovereignty over Batu Puteh.

The ICJ awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia, while the ownership of South Ledge, situated about 4km from Batu Puteh, was left for determination based on the delimitation of territorial waters.

On June 30, 2017, Putrajaya filed an application to interpret the ICJ’s judgment to address its ambiguities and implications, particularly regarding the status of South Ledge.

However, upon wresting control of Putrajaya at the general election in May 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government, with Mahathir as prime minister, withdrew the application before it came up for hearing in June 2018.

The findings of the RCI on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, which were released last Thursday, said Mahathir had likely acted deliberately to influence the Cabinet to discontinue the applications to review and interpret the ICJ’s decision on Batu Puteh and South Ledge.

Mahathir has since reiterated his denial that he had made a unilateral decision on the matter, stating that the likes of former deputy prime minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and former home minister Muhyiddin Yassin were among those present at the Cabinet meeting when the issue was raised.

The issue was raised during the PH government’s first Cabinet meeting on May 23, 2018. - FMT