KUALA LUMPUR: A closed-door briefing for all members of parliament will be held at a hotel in the city at 8.30pm tonight with regard to the Sulu Sultanate heirs' claims to Malaysian assets.
Teo Nie Ching (Pakatan Harapan-Kulai) said the briefing will be delivered by Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.
"I believe all MPs from the opposition bloc and the independents have received an invitation letter from the ministers.
"The three ministers will provide clarification during the briefing. After that, we will have a question-and-answer session. However, this will be a closed-door briefing," she said during a press conference at the parliament building here today.
Teo said since the letters sent to the MPs bore the Official Secrets Act stamp, she could not disclose the contents.
Teo also questioned the decision to hold the briefing at a hotel, saying that it could have been done in the Dewan Rakyat.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun had however argued that aside from being sub-judice, a debate on the issue would also allow enemies of the state to acquire valuable legal information on Malaysia's plans to resolve the case.
Two Petronas Luxembourg-registered subsidiaries, Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and Petronas South Caucasus, were recently seized after a March ruling by a French arbitration court that Malaysia has to pay the Sulu Sultanate descendants at least RM62.59 billion.
The seizure of the holding companies, reportedly valued at about RM8.87 billion, was part of legal efforts by the purported heirs, who back in 2017 sought compensation for land in Sabah, which they claimed their ancestor had leased to a British trading company in 1878.
The arbitration was initiated by the heirs and successors-in-interest of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II against the government through international arbitration proceedings in Madrid, Spain.
On July 12, the Paris Court of Appeal allowed the Malaysian government's application to stay the enforcement of the Final Award on claims by parties claiming to be heirs and successors-in-interest to Sultan Jamalul Kiram II.