Kuala Lumpur: Openly debating the Sulu arbitration issue in the Dewan Rakyat will jeopardise Malaysia’s position in the ongoing court proceedings, said Speaker Azhar Harun.
He said it was unwise to reveal Putrajaya’s strategy for the litigation proceedings, adding that it was his responsibility to prevent that from happening.
He held firm on shooting down motions to debate the issue in the lower house, ordering MPs to submit questions to the relevant ministries to answer through written replies.
“Debating the matter would reveal the government’s strategy to others,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.
“Do we want to reveal our strategy to the world?”
On Monday, Azhar explained that he had to reject motions to debate the issue as it would be sub judice because of the ongoing proceedings involving the matter abroad.
Earlier, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) said the case was only sub judice in France, as it was being heard in a Paris court.
He said it was crucial to debate the issue as it was a matter of national sovereignty, and urged all Sabah MPs, regardless of their party affiliation, to demand that the matter be taken up in the Dewan Rakyat.
Earlier this week, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) was ejected from the Dewan Rakyat and suspended for two days after getting into an argument with Azhar on the issue.
She had questioned why her motion to debate the issue was rejected three times, asking if the Dewan Rakyat did not care about the matter since it only concerned Sabah.
The heirs of the Sulu sultanate are seeking to enforce an award of US$14.9 billion as compensation for ceding Sabah, now part of Malaysia.
Last week, writs of seizure were issued against two Luxembourg-based units of Petronas, which described the seizure as “baseless” and that the companies had divested their assets.
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