At a press conference today, Anwar said the attorney-general (AG) briefed the Cabinet on the Batu Puteh issue.

“We will ask (the AG) to study the matter so that we can have meaningful negotiations with Singapore to avoid any issues where bilateral ties are concerned,” he said.

On Oct 9, then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Cabinet had been told that there was possible negligence and oversight on Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s part over the Batu Puteh claim.

Ismail said the Cabinet had been informed by the special task force set up to study the case that Mahathir might have made a mistake in withdrawing an application to review the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) award of Batu Puteh’s sovereignty to Singapore.

He said the government had decided to proceed with taking legal action at the ICJ in its fight for Batu Puteh

In 2008, the ICJ decided that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia, and South Ledge to the state in the territorial waters in which it is located.

In June 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ requesting an interpretation of the judgment. In 2018, Mahathir withdrew the application to overturn the ICJ’s ruling awarding legal jurisdiction of Batu Puteh to Singapore.

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