KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman has questioned the appropriateness of the commercial arbitration platform utilised in resolving the Sabah-Sulu dispute.
In a no-holds-barred interview with Commercial Dispute Resolution (CDR), a litigation and arbitration magazine, Azalina said she did not take any matters that stain the country's integrity kindly.
The interview was conducted when Azalina visited London to ink a memorandum of understanding between the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) and the SOAS University of London Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Centre (SADRC).
It was also after Malaysia recently battled a series of frivolous territorial claims related to Sabah dubbed as the Sulu fraud, which saw the case progress from Spain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
While the centuries-old dispute between the country and the defunct Sulu Sultanate have concluded on paper, Azalina argued that the spillover effect is far from over.
"There are more questions than answers that I can provide. A commercial arbitration platform can be the right forum but in this dispute, it doesn't make sense. It's set down in Spain, somebody decides to jump to Paris and then decides to jump to Luxembourg."
The minister's primary concern remained that the case was provoked by external funders.
Azalina said she understood that there was a need for assistance of the kind depending on capacity, noting that it was "a legitimate business", however the lack of transparency was unsettling.
"In the Sulu case, I cannot get any information from the funders. Nobody wants to share and that is not fair."
On Feb 28 last year, Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa bid for recognition and enforcement in the Netherlands of an arbitral award of US$14.9 billion to eight people, who claimed to be the heirs of the sultan of Sulu.
The claims stemmed from what the claimants say was the failure of the Malaysian government to pay an annual cession money for Sabah that was stipulated in an agreement signed between the British and the sultanate.
The token sum, which the government had been paying since the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, was stopped in 2013 after more than 200 supporters of one of several people claiming to be the sultan of Sulu launched an armed intrusion into Lahad Datu in Sabah on Feb 11 that year.
The incident was to last until March 24. A total of six Malaysian civilians and 10 security forces personnel were killed, along with 56 intruders.
The eight claimants, however, have said they had nothing to do with the intrusion and were the true heirs of the sultanate.
The Dutch court, however, threw out the case following a stay on Stampa's final award by the courts in Paris after Malaysia lodged a case against it.
Malaysia had asserted that Stampa's appointment as arbitrator by the claimants had been nullified in Spanish courts.
It was only after the Spanish court decision that Stampa took his decision to France and Malaysia argued that his final award of US$14.9 billion was as such rendered illegal.
With the Dutch decision, the claimants are not allowed to enforce the final award in the Netherlands to seize property belonging to Malaysia or Malaysian companies such as Petronas.
Leaders such as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor as well as Azalina rejoiced and hailed the Dutch decision, lawyers have said the government must not rest on its laurels as the battle has not been completely won at the time.
"The verdict (in The Hague Court of Appeal) is another landmark victory for Malaysia following the Paris Court of Appeal's decision on June 6," Anwar had said.
Malaysia's historical win over the Sulu group's claim had given confidence to locals that the Federal government will continue to ensure any attempt to disrupt the country's sovereignty is foiled.
The people of Lahad Datu, especially, had been deeply affected and traumatised over the incursion by Sulu militants in Felda Sahabat, here which led to a battle with national forces in March 2013 in Kampung Tanduo.
Ten members of the Malaysian security forces and 68 Sulu militants were killed in the tragedy.
The group identified themselves as the "Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo" and the conflict was declared over on April 10, 2013.