Cessation payment to Sulu must be stopped, says Karpal

DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh today has called for Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to file a court order for Malaysia to stop its cessation payment for Sabah.

In a statement, he urged Abdul Gani who hails from Sabah, to immediately spring into action to obtain the necessary application at the Kota Kinabalu High Court.

“It is my view that cessation payment constitutes a fit and proper case for the High Court in Kota Kinabalu to review the 1938 decision and order that the cessation payment be discontinued immediately,” said Karpal.

He said the country’s sovereignty should not be allowed to be compromised in any way and that it should and must stand pristine.

Karpal stressed that the Philippines cannot lay any claim to Sabah considering the fact that Sabah (with the passage of time) joined Malaysia as a sovereign state followed by recognition by the Philippines of Malaysia as sovereign state by having ambassadorial level representation in the country.

“Malaysia is internationally recognised with Sabah as a sovereign state in the Federation of Malaysia since it opted to join Malaysia on 31 August 1963.

He said the cessation payment to heirs of the Sultan of Sulu was on the authority of 1938 order of the High Court of North Borneo.

He added that the petition allowed nine Sulu heirs to receive and share between themselves $5,000 (now RM5,3000) as annual payment.

Karpal also said Malaysia should not be paying the lease money, as paying it would mean that we are ‘accepting’ that we are not independent.

Meanwhile, the senior DAP leader has also urged Malaysians to stand united during times when the country is being intruded by outside forces.

He said the nation’s security force should not be insulted and must be respected, appreciated and honoured by every Malaysia as they are defending the country’s sovereignty.