Dr M right not to cooperate with Apandi panel, says ex-AG

KUALA LUMPUR: Tommy Thomas has come out in support of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision not to cooperate with a special task force reviewing a 2018 decision not to pursue the Batu Puteh sovereignty case.

Thomas, who was attorney-general in Mahathir’s government, said the task force chairman, Apandi Ali, was not in a position to sit in judgment of Mahathir as it was Apandi who had advised the previous government to file for a review of the World Court decision on Batu Puteh and two other islands.

Mahathir had withdrawn the application for a review by the International Court of Justice before the case came up for hearing on June 11.

“Mahathir’s got a strong case because the one person who was very much behind Malaysia’s attempt to relitigate the Batu Puteh case against Singapore was Apandi,” Thomas said at a book launch today.

Thomas has also similarly refused to cooperate with a separate special task force formed to investigate allegations made in his memoirs “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.

He said the task force had no legal power to investigate the matter, and only a royal commission of inquiry would have the legal standing to do so.

On Thursday, Mahathir had walked out abruptly about 15 minutes into an interview with the special task force reviewing the sovereignty case at the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

According to a report in Astro Awani, Mahathir did this in protest against Apandi remaining as the task force chairman. He said he would not cooperate until Apandi is replaced.

The task force had been formed to look into and review laws related to the sovereignty dispute with Singapore over Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge. Singapore was awarded sovereignty over Batu Puteh (known as Pedra Branca in the republic), while Malaysia retained sovereignty over Middle Rocks. — Free Malaysia Today