NAJIB TELLS WHY ROME STATUTE WAS NEVER SIGNED BY BN GOVT
Malaysia News on Politics
Najib Razak explains why Rome Statute was never signed by BN government
Najib Razak explains why Rome Statute was never signed by BN government
Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, former Malaysian prime minister |
FORMER prime minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak yesterday, Saturday 27 April 2019 said his government had once discussed ratifying the Rome Statute but was advised by the then attorney-general (AG) that the international treaty could contravene the Federal Constitution.
MyBoss (Najib's popular name) made this clarification after AG Tommy Thomas yesterday said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had decided on 18 March 2011 to sign the treaty.
Tommy Thomas, Malaysian Attorney-General |
Tommy Thomas' confusing statement
Tommy Thomas said this was why he had advised the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to ratify the Rome Statute, adding that doing so also had many advantages.
The Pekan MP taking to Facebook yesterday afternoon, said it was incumbent on a responsible government to discuss and consider signing United Naton's treaties like the Rome Statute.
However, Najib said the PH government should have found out why discussions by the BN government in March 2011 on the Room Statute did not eventually lead to its ratification.
BN was advised by then AG Abdul Gani Patail
"Surely there was a reason for this. This was because the BN government listened to and received advice from the attorney-general at the time that ratifying the Rome Statute could go against the constituton and the laws of our country," the former premier said.
For reference, Abdul Gani Patail was the AG in 2011.
The Rome Statute led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002 to deal with geonocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
In 2015, the BN government had considered signing the Rome Statute for Malaysia to bring those responsible for shooting down the Malaysia Airlines flight in Ukraine to the ICC.
However, this and other subsequent proposals made to ratify the Rome Statute never materialized.
Najib said his administration also never signed any documents for Malaysia to accede to the statute when he was in power.
PH government signed Rome Statute after AG Tommy Thomas advised Putrajaya to do so
But after 14th general-election, PH decided to sign to the treaty after AG Tommy Thomas advised Putrajaya to do so.
Najib slammed PH over the way it announced its decision to accede to the treaty, only to do a U-turn later.
Malaysia signed the Rome Statute on 4 March 2019 and deposited it with the secretary-general of the UN the same day.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime Minister |
Later, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government had no choice but to quit the treaty, following criticism from the Johor palace as well as other parties which said it would undermine Malaysia's royal institution.
by Fauzi Kadir
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