Dr Mahathir Mohamad may be advised to decline participation in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to review matters related to the cases involving the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge if it continues to be chaired by former chief justice Md Raus Sharif.
Mahathir’s lawyer, Rafique Rashid, said he has no choice but to advise Mahathir against joining the RCI, on grounds that Raus has a conflict of interest in the case.
“The RCI should be seen as clean and impartial so that the public will not question the credibility of the same.
“As such, Raus’ appointment as chairperson of RCI Batu Puteh has created a real danger of bias in which truth and justice will not prevail.
“That will erode public confidence and will affect the credibility of its findings,” said Rafique.
The government yesterday announced Raus' appointment as Batu Puteh RCI chairperson.
The RCI was set up to review with immediate effect matters related to the government's decision in 2018, during Mahathir's time as prime minister, to withdraw two review applications against the International Court of Justice's rulings on May 23, 2008.
On May 23, 2008, the ICJ ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Batu Puteh while Malaysia had sovereignty over Middle Rocks.
In addition, the ICJ ruled that ownership of South Ledge, located about 4km from Batu Puteh, would be determined based on the maritime boundaries of the country that controls it.
’Replace Raus’
Meanwhile, Rafique today recalled issues between Mahathir and Raus which started with the former in 2017 filing a judicial review to challenge the latter's appointment as an additional Federal Court Judge. Raus at the time was aged 66 years and six months.
In May 2018, Rafique said Raus had met with Mahathir as prime minister to state his intention to resign as chief justice.
Rafique said, a month later, Raus tendered his resignation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who later consented to the request.
"Because of the above-mentioned reasons, in the name of justice for Mahathir, we (lawyers) humbly request for the government to replace the RCI chairperson with someone who has no conflict of interest.
"In the interest of seeking the truth, it is reasonable for Raus to withdraw himself from the position," he said.
"Otherwise, we have no choice but to advise Mahathir not to join the RCI," he added. - Mkini
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