KUALA LUMPUR: The Sulu dispute must be handled carefully by the government and without any political interference, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

       To this end, she urged all lawmakers to give full support to the government, which was now taking actions to challenge the arbitration that recently awarded the defunct Sulu sultanate's descendants RM62.59bil over Sabah.

       Mas Ermieyati said the government was committed to defending the sovereignty of the country, especially Sabah, and would not remain silent on the issue.

       "We will act to challenge all actions taken anywhere and at any time other than not recognising the decision taken by the arbitrator.

       "The government wishes to handle this issue carefully, so I urge all of you to understand this situation so that we can implement the actions that have been planned without any political interference," Mas Ermieyati told the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (March 17).

       This was after the issue of the arbitration award was raised by several Opposition MPs, who claimed that the government had not done anything concrete to dismiss the claims by the descendants of the defunct Sulu sultanate.

       Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) stressed that action should be taken against those making such claims and that Malaysia must ask the Philippines to drop the claim over Sabah.

       She was also disappointed that the matter of the award was not allowed to be debated under an emergency motion and asked what was the guarantee that the issue would be resolved.

       "The Philippines had openly discussed pursuing its claim over Sabah during the senatorial debates held in that country.

       "I'm puzzled why here, we are so afraid to debate this matter. If we say that we don't recognise the claims, then we should tell the Philippines to drop it.

       "Summon the representative of the Philippines and tell them to drop the claims," she said.

       Mas assured that the government had taken appropriate actions to resolve the issue.

       She said the government had already obtained a court order in Spain to declare the initial RM62.59bil arbitration award issued by Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa to the heirs of the Sulu sultan as null and void.

       This was because the final award issued by Stampa was invalid and made unilaterally and unlawfully, as his appointment was revoked by the Madrid High Court on June 29, 2021.

       However, Mas said that Stampa had continued to pursue similar action in Paris where the court in France had issued an Exchequer Order without knowledge of the decision against Stampa in Spain.

       Thus, the Malaysian government filed a criminal complaint against Stampa with the Attorney General in Spain on Dec 14 last year, as a protest against the arbitrator for not complying with the Madrid court order and an insult to Malaysia's sovereignty.

       "The government is fully committed to ensuring that justice is upheld," said Mas.