KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 — Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim has given his assent for the government to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the issues surrounding Malaysia’s sovereignty in relation to Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan.
In a statement today, the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department said Sultan Ibrahim also consented to the appointments of the seven-member panel for the RCI.
The RCI will be chaired by former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif, with former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Datuk Zainun Ali as the deputy chairman.
Other members include legal expert Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, former dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Malaya Prof. Dr. Johan Shamsuddin Haji Sabaruddin, constitutional law and administrative law expert Prof. Datin D. Faridah binti Jalil, Johor Financial Officer Datuk Mohammed Ridha Abd Kadir and Director of the South Region at the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Dickson Dollah.
In 2008, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore, and Malaysia applied to the ICJ requesting an interpretation of the judgment in 2017.
In 2018, however, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration ended the application.
Last year, a special task force set up to study the case found that Dr Mahathir possibly erred in withdrawing the application.
