KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration will not be signing to be a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as it is allegedly following the desires of the majority of Malaysians, a deputy minister claimed today.

Deputy foreign affairs minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar today noted that Malaysia had under the then Pakatan Harapan government acceded or become a party to the Rome Statute on March 4, 2019, but said the same government had on April 5, 2019 decided to withdraw its accession to the international treaty.

Kamarudin went on to say that Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had then on April 29, 2019 presented a letter of Malaysia’s withdrawal from the accession to the Rome Statute to the United Nations’ secretary-general, who is the depository for the treaty.

He noted that the United Nations had on May 15, 2019 confirmed Malaysia’s withdrawal of its accession to the Rome Statute effective April 29, 2019, with Malaysia then officially removed from the list of countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute.

"As of today, the government is still maintaining the position taken by the previous government,” the Bandar Tun Razak MP from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia said in the Dewan Rakyat.

He was responding to an oral question from PKR’s Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, who had asked the foreign minister to state the government’s stand towards the Rome Statute and the possibility that the government will agree to be a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the near future.

The Rome Statute, an international agreement adopted by 120 countries in July 1998, had established the world’s first permanent independent international court known as the ICC to end impunity for individuals that commit the most serious crimes known internationally.

The ICC started operating on July 1, 2002 and prosecutes individuals, with its powers limited to just these four crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

Following Kamarudin’s answer, Maria Chin then asked the supplementary question of whether the current government will hold public discussions to enable better understanding of the steps that would be taken.

Maria Chin also asked what international channels would Malaysia be using to address crimes against humanity such as the past shooting down of Malaysia Airlines’ aircraft on flight MH17 as well as when championing issues relating to Palestine and Rohingya, if Malaysia does not support the Rome Statute or if Malaysia does not go through the ICC.

Kamarudin then went on to make a snide remark against the PH government while seeking to justify the PN government’s decision against backing the Rome Statute, claiming that most Malaysians were against supporting the international treaty.

"As I said and as you very well know, the previous government — as I have stated — had already withdrawn its participation from the Rome Statute, so if the previous government whom you believe have the people’s mandate too withdrew after understanding the wishes of the majority of citizens then.

"Then surely the government today which really understands the wishes of the public compared to the government that purportedly had the people’s mandate would ensure our actions after this would certainly be guided by among others, what the majority of Malaysians actually want,” he claimed, hinting and alluding to the past PH government as having the voters’ mandate as it had come into power in the May 2018 elections.

"So the question about international channels and so on, our country through the Foreign Affairs Ministry and other agencies are always active in the international field including issues related to the Rohingya, Palestine and so on,” he said.

While he was giving this answer, Maria Chin had interjected to see that there was no such public mandate on the Rome Statute issue, while other MPs also interjected in protest against his remark by suggesting that it was not the public’s will but race and religious sentiments were used to oppose the Rome Statute.

"Want to know the majority, have to do a referendum, not make a demonstration,” one of the MPs was heard saying in protest against Kamarudin’s remarks.

Read here for more information on the Rome Statute, as well as what legal experts have said regarding the Rome Statute. It was previously also highlighted that Malaysia could have referred the downing of Flight MH17, the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Uighur Muslims in China to the ICC after acceding to the Rome Statute.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was the prime minister then, had on April 5, 2019 said that the PH government was forced to withdraw its accession to the Rome Statute due to political pressure from opponents who were spreading unnecessary fear and confusion in public and seeking to divert attention from their own wrongdoings, also accusing the Rome Statute critics of seeking to trigger a row between the country’s monarchy and the PH government.

Tommy Thomas, who was then the attorney general, had also in late April 2019 shed light on a briefing to the Conference of Rulers on April 2 on the Rome Statute, which was days before the PH government decided to withdraw from the international treaty. He had expressed disappointment at not being able to engage with four academics when they advised the Malay rulers against the Rome Statute, as their briefing was held separately from his briefing.