KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned former ministers' silence over the decision to withdraw Malaysia's application to review the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) ruling on Pulau Batu Puteh.
Earlier today, three former ministers from the 2018 Pakatan Harapan administration — Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, and Anthony Loke — claimed that the decision was made unilaterally by Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister at the time, without consulting the cabinet.
"Thank you to the ministers who were members of the cabinet during my second tenure as prime minister for their clarification.
"However, I am somewhat perplexed by the explanation that they did not provide any opinions or views on the issue of Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge because I only informed them (of the decision) during the cabinet meeting.
"Did they need me to explicitly tell them that they should express their opinions or views before they do so?," he said in a statement issued by his lawyer Rafique Rashid.
Dr Mahathir questioned if the act of informing them of the decision would block any debate, the sharing of opinions, or even expressing agreement or disagreement.
He said that if the ministers at the time chose to remain silent or did not express disagreement, it would be taken as their agreement with what was informed or presented.
"Are they not aware that any issue raised, informed, or discussed requires each member to give it due attention, and if they have views to express, they should do so during the meeting?
"Now, they want me to take responsibility for the issue."
Dr Mahathir said it was not whether he accepted responsibility for the matter as the head of government at the time but whether the cabinet members were willing to shoulder the responsibility collectively.
"If not, they failed to fulfil the trust placed in them merely because they didn't want to give their opinions on what was conveyed to them in the cabinet meeting.
"As far as I recall, during that cabinet meeting, it was recorded in the minutes that all members, including the three individuals in question, agreed with my view and the details I provided on the issue.
"It is very puzzling that since 2018, none of them said anything, but as soon as I clarified the actual matter, all of them avoided and deflected responsibility," he added.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Malaysia's withdrawal of its application to review the ICJ's ruling on Batu Puteh had on Dec 5 recommended that a criminal investigation be launched against Dr Mahathir.
On Tuesday, the former prime minister had repeated his stand that the decision to withdraw the appeal was not a unilateral one, saying he had brought it to the cabinet.