PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has filed an application to an arbitration court in France to set aside a US$14.92 billion (RM62.59 billion) award to the heirs of the last Sulu sultan.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the descendants’ claims, via an arbitration court, were illegitimate and unlawful.
It was previously reported that the arbitration court had instructed the government to pay the Sulu sultan’s descendants over a breach of an 1878 agreement pertaining to what is now modern day Sabah.
“This (the application) is to ensure that the final award cannot be enforced by the claimants at any time and in any country, so that Malaysia does not have to pay the RM62.59 billion claimed,” Ismail said in a statement.
On Monday, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the award by the Paris arbitration court did not affect the position of Sabah as part of Malaysia.
He said Malaysia had, on several occasions, stressed that it did not entertain any claim on Sabah, which had been recognised by the United Nations and the international community as being part of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963.
“It must be emphasised that the government of Malaysia is not keeping quiet but has taken several measures to stop the claim proceedings,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during the winding-up debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address for his ministry.
Earlier, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said the government did not recognise the claim and arbitration ruling.
He said this was in view of the fact that the appointment of the original arbitrator, Gonzalo Stampa, in Spain had been being annulled and was no longer legally valid, so he could not move the arbitration seat from Madrid to Paris to continue with the proceedings. - FMT
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