Saifuddin said the ex-prime minister should stick to the facts as detailed in the royal commission of inquiry’s (RCI) report on the matter, particularly its findings that Mahathir had acted unilaterally in dropping two legal applications concerning Batu Puteh.
“The matter has been decided. We will refer to the facts stated in the RCI report. (Mahathir’s recent statements) were merely an attempt at dragging other (members of his Cabinet) down with him.
“When people are drowning, they will grasp for anything they can reach for. That’s his current situation,” he told reporters after the home ministry’s monthly assembly here today.
On Tuesday, Mahathir denied unilaterally deciding not to proceed with the applications to review and interpret the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2008 decision on Batu Puteh.
He said the likes of then deputy prime minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, then finance minister Lim Guan Eng and then home minister Muhyiddin Yassin had been present, among others, during a 2018 Cabinet meeting where the issue was raised.
Mahathir added that they did not speak up against the idea during the meeting, making him “assume they accepted it”.
In a joint statement today, Wan Azizah, then transport minister Loke Siew Fook and then defence minister Mohamad Sabu said they had no opportunity to oppose the decision as they were only informed of Mahathir’s decision at their maiden Cabinet meeting.
They said there was no room for any decision-making on the matter when Mahathir had already done so in writing.
They were referring to the RCI’s findings that Mahathir had written to the solicitor-general on May 21, 2018 stating that the ICJ applications “need not be continued”.
The solicitor-general then informed Singapore that Malaysia would be dropping both legal applications. Singapore was formally informed of this at 9am on May 23, 2018.
On the other hand, the Cabinet only met at 9.30am the same day and discussed the issue later in the meeting under “other matters”, according to the RCI.
The RCI recommended that a police report be filed against Mahathir for cheating, though two members of the commission dissented.