KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth today vehemently condemned Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s statement that Malaysia’s application to revise the judgment on the Pulau Batu Puteh case was due to the upcoming 14th General Election.
The accusation, said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, was “irresponsible” and could damage the good ties between Malaysia and Singapore.
Khairy said Malaysia, as a sovereign nation, had filed the application on Feb 2 following the discovery of new facts via three documents retrieved from the United Kingdom’s National Archives on August 4, 2016.
“The decision to file the application, made six months after the discovery of the new facts, were well within the rights accorded to Malaysia. This application and the second one, on June 30, 2017, for the purpose of judicial interpretation, was not done callously without solid basis.”
Khairy said Hsien Loong should also know that when the new findings were made on Aug 2016, Malaysia’s general election had yet to be announced. The filing on Feb 2, 2017 was done to give ample time for the preparation of documents within the allocated six months.
“It should also be noted that as of today, Parliament has yet to be dissolved, one year on from the date of the discovery of the new facts,” he said.
“It is easy to gain political support by hurling accusations to other countries, as what Prime Minister Lee had done at the PAP party convention. However, unlike him, Malaysia views the issue of sovereignty seriously at all times, and not merely to gain support during elections or political conventions.”