FORMER AG Tommy Thomas’ has finally made a public response on 27 July 2022 on the Sulu claimants RM62.5 billion award against Malaysia. But his long and turgid response has left many unanswered questions.

It fails to address the main question to which an aggrieved Malaysian public demands answers. Why did Thomas as Attorney-General, issue his now infamous letter of 19 September 2019 admitting without reservation that Malaysia owes money, to the Sulu claimants? Not only did he admit the debt, he even expressed regret that the country did not pay the Sulu claimants.

This admission and expression of regret was seized upon by the Sulu claimants and their lawyers in their submissions in the arbitration. And the Thomas letter is heavily relied upon by the Artbitrator in his written arbitral award against Malaysia.

Thomas in his statement fulminates against arbitrator Stampa and the Sulu claimants’ lawyer Cohen and calls them “enemies of Malaysia”. There is no dispute on that; we are all agreed that Stampa was guilty of misconduct and that the award is unlawful.

But the real question is, why did Thomas make such damaging concessions and admissions in his letter to these two “enemies of Malaysia”? Why place such a potent weapon in the hands of our enemies, which they gleefully used against us?

In the interests of public accountability, Tommy Thomas must answer these 8 questions:

1) Why did Thomas issue the 19 September 2019 letter offering payments to the Sulu claimants’ London lawyer without saying that it’s “without prejudice” or without admission of liability on the part of Malaysia?

2) Why didn’t Thomas participate in the arbitration proceedings for the purpose of challenging the validity of
the proceedings or the jurisdiction of the arbitrator and nip in the bud the whole matter? Thomas digs up a precedent in which Pakistan did not contest an arbitration in 2011. This is a poor and unreasonable excuse for not fighting for Malaysia in the Stampa arbitration from day one.

3) Why did Thomas copy the 19 September 2019 letter to arbitrator Stampa after having decided not to participate in the arbitration, thus making it part of the arbitration record, and allowing Stampa to make full use of a letter sent directly to him by the then AG of Malaysia?

4) Why did Thomas openly express ‘regret’ for the nonpayment to the Sulu claimants, thus conceding liability or wrongful conduct by Malaysia?

5) Why didn’t Thomas state that the Sulu claimants’ arbitration in Spain is a grievous infringement of Malaysia’s sovereignty?

6) Why did Thomas in his letter state facts which supported the conclusion that the Sulu Sultanate had
never divested itself of sovereignty over Sabah?

7) Did Thomas refer to the PM or Cabinet before issuing this crucial letter?

8) Why did Thomas in his letter treat an issue that involves national sovereignty as if it were a commercial
transaction?

The Stampa award is massive, and Malaysia has now to work hard to prevent its enforcement against its assets worldwide. Tommy Thomas cannot remain silent or issue any more statements that avoid the real questions. These burning questions beg answers. The public is entitled to know.


Issued by,
YB DR AFIF BAHARDIN
ADUN SEBERANG JAYA
DEPUTY DIVISION CHIEF BERSATU SHAH ALAM
27th July 2022


* The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.