PH ignored Sulu mess then made it worse, says Najib

 

Former prime minister Najib Razak described incoming PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli as a fool for trying to blame him for the Sulu controversy.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has blasted PKR’s incoming deputy president Rafizi Ramli for blaming him for the Sulu issue when it was the Pakatan Harapan government’s “ignorance” that made it worse.

He said the PH government did not do anything when the Sulu heirs made claims that the country had failed to make annual payments after the death of the formally recognised Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II.

“Their stance on this issue was to never acknowledge these claims and that’s why they never appointed lawyers to defend us at the arbitration court in Paris,” he said in a Facebook post.

He was responding to a report that stated Rafizi planned to file a police report against Najib for his negligence during his time in power, leaving government property like Petronas vulnerable to confiscation.

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Najib said the Sulu heirs took action to seek arbitration in 2019 when PH was in power.

He said the decision to stop annual payments to the Sulu heirs (after an invasion of Sabah in 2013) had been supported by the likes of the late Karpal Singh and the late Dr Chen Man Hin, both of DAP, and by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib added that to make matters worse, the PH-appointed attorney-general had written a letter acknowledging the Sulu heirs’ claims and offering a payment of RM48,300. He described the action as “the biggest mistake” under the PH government.

He said soon after, each minister in the PH government washed their hands of the situation claiming they had no idea about the letter.

“And even after all that, Rafizi blames me and wants to report me to the police?” he said and called Rafizi a “fool” for suggesting he was the cause of the Sulu issue. “Luckily for you, stupidity is not a crime because if it was I would report you to the police,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Sulu heirs obtained a seizure order against two Petronas subsidiaries registered in Luxembourg after an arbitration award was obtained ordering Malaysia to pay the sultan’s descendants at least RM62.59 billion for handing over sovereignty over Sabah.

The government has previously stated that the appointment of the Spanish arbitrator had been revoked and his actions declared null and void. The government has also taken action in the French courts against the arbitration order as it infringes on Malaysian sovereignty. - FMT