KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Opposition MPs today pressed Putrajaya for a clear answer as to why annual payments were still being made to the heirs of the now-defunct Sulu Sultanate, when the government does not recognise their claim to Sabah.

MPs from Parti Warisan Negara (Warisan), DAP, PKR and Parti Bersatu Pribumi Negara (Bersatu) raised the matter in the Dewan Rakyat today, during Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin’s ministerial winding-up speech.

Warisan’s Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis questioned if international arbitration for the matter will ever end, adding that the Philippines’ purported claim to Sabah had become fodder for the country’s politicians during election season.

“The claim to Sabah is openly debated. Openly debated! So I am perplexed why we are so scared to debate this matter. Why are we not handling this problem? You should tell the Philippines to drop its claim to Sabah. The foreign minister is here. Call the Philippines envoy to your office to ask that the Philippines drop its claim to Sabah. Tell them once and for all. Face it and end it.

“Don’t tell me Sabahans need to wait another 1,000 years for this issue to be resolved. Every time the election comes, every time the election comes, every time the election comes! To me, sometimes what I feel is that you want our oil, but when it comes to security issues, you don’t tackle it,” she said.

Her party colleague and Sepanggar MP, Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman, echoed her sentiments, and asked the government to explain former attorney general, Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ claim that Malaysia was paying the Sulu Sultanate’s purported descendants RM5,300 annually.

“What becomes the question for us now, when I see the letter by former AG Tommy Thomas that there still are payments, is: What is the reason for the Malaysian government to pay RM5,300 to the Sulu Sultanate’s descendants? As a Sabahan, I was rather shocked that there were payments from the federal govt to them.

“So if we do not recognise their claim, why does the Malaysian government pay this RM5,300 to the Sulu Sultanate’s descendants?” he questioned.

On March 10, news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that a London-based lawyer representing the purported descendants of the Sulu Sultanate disputed the contention of the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) that their “identities are doubtful”.

The lawyer named Elisabeth Mason had reportedly cited a 2019 letter from Thomas to her colleague.

Mason was quoted as saying that the letter showed that the AGC and Foreign Ministry had known and formally recognised the claimants and their rights “for years” and had been directly and individually involved with them during that period.

FMT reported that it had also sighted a document from the Malaysian embassy in Manila dated June 28, 2012, requesting the heirs, whose names were individually listed, to collect their cheques for “cession money”.

“There is background. I don’t know all the details but there is a basis to paying the RM5,300 fee every year. But that is not relevant to the billions being claimed in arbitration presently. But what’s important, minister, my suggestion to the government is, this issue is worrying, and I suggest the federal government to issue a clear and detailed statement. For example, Sepanggar’s question is important. What is the basis for the annual payment of RM5,300? Explain it openly, transparently to Malaysians. And from time to time, any decisions made by the government to cancel or set aside this judgment or order issued by the arbitrator, must be explained to the people, especially to the people of Sabah,” PKR’s Sungai Buloh MP R. Sivarasa said.

Similarly, DAP’s Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said the government owed MPs a clearer explanation.

“The deputy minister said that the government is in the midst of taking action, and then asked there be no political intervention and all. But the deputy minister must understand that this is not about politics; we are parliamentarians. What was raised by Sepanggar and Kota Belud is extremely important. We want it to be explained in this House. What is the action that the government will take, and what is the result that we hope is to be achieved through such action, so that we can give that information to Malaysians who also want to know about it. So we can get an answer, apart from the general statement that we will take actions, that sort of thing,” he asked.

On March 8, Warisan urged a motion by Isnaraissah to debate the US$14 billion (RM63 billion) award granted by a court in France to the purported heirs of the Sulu Sultanate to be given priority in Parliament.

In a joint statement earlier this month, the Foreign Ministry and AG said Malaysia will not recognise the recent arbitration proceedings and subsequent award by the French court to the purported heirs of the Sulu Sultanate, and maintains its sovereign immunity.

It said that the Spanish High Court had decided in June 2020 that due process leading to the appointment of the arbitrator was not properly served or consistent with the Spanish High Court of Justice of Madrid’s case laws on the service of process on sovereign states.

“As a consequence of the Nullification Decision, Dr Stampa is not an arbitrator in the purported arbitration proceedings and, therefore, all his decisions, including the Final Award, are null and void.

“The government of Malaysia completely rejects the purported Final Award dated February 28, 2022, which was rendered by Dr Stampa,” it said in reference to Gonzalo Stampa.

The Foreign Ministry and AG said the award rendered by Stampa on February 28 not only violated Malaysia’s sovereign immunity, but also was rendered in disregard of the Madrid and Paris court decisions.

“The government of Malaysia strongly opposes the Final Award and upholds its position and stance to not recognise all the actions taken by Dr Stampa in the purported arbitration proceedings as well as all his illegal decisions and awards,” said the statement.

It said that Malaysia did not participate in the purported arbitration proceedings because it did not recognise the claim and that it had always upheld and never waived its sovereign immunity as a sovereign state.

The Foreign Ministry and AG said the Spanish public prosecutor has filed a criminal complaint against Stampa for serious contempt of court and professional intrusiveness.

They also said that the subject matter of the claim is not commercial in nature and thus cannot be subject to arbitration and the 1878 Agreement contains no arbitration agreement.

“We further stress that the claimants’ identities are doubtful and have yet to be verified.

“Malaysia will continue to take all necessary actions, including legal actions, to put an end to the claim and to ensure that Malaysia’s interests, sovereign immunity and sovereignty are protected and preserved at all times,” they said.

It was recently reported that a French court had ordered Malaysia to pay the heirs of the now-defunct Sulu Sultanate up to US$14.92 billion for violating a land lease made in 1878 between the Sultan of Sulu at the time Sultan Mohamet Jamal Al Alam and Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent where the former granted and ceded sovereign rights over certain territories located in North Borneo.

As a token, RM5,300 per year was to be paid to the then Sultan of Sulu, his heirs or successors. However, Malaysia stopped paying after the Lahad Datu armed invasion in 2013.

On January 14, 2020, the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak heard a case by the heirs and declared that the 1878 Agreement did not contain any arbitration agreement; that Malaysia had never waived its sovereign immunity; that the arbitrator had no jurisdiction to resolve the matter; and that the Sabah Court is the natural and proper forum to determine any claim in connection with the 1878 Agreement.

Malaysia has also filed for the recognition and enforcement of the Sabah High Court decision in the Spanish High Court of Justice of Madrid but the application has yet to be heard.