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MCA Wants Special Task Force To Tackle Sulu Descendants And Make Sure That Malaysia’s Assets Are Safe

MCA Wants Special Task Force To Tackle Sulu Descendants And Make Sure That Malaysia’s Assets Are Safe

Malaysia is currently challenging the final award given to the self-proclaimed Sulu sultanate heirs worth RM63bil ruled by Spanish Arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa.

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MCA has urged the Attorney General Chambers to form a special task force in international arbitration in order to protect Malaysia’s sovereignty over the claim of self-proclaimed heirs of the Sulu sultanate.

According to The Star, the party’s secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon said that the controversial U$14.92bil (RM63bil) award and the seizure of two Petronas subsidiaries in Azerbaijan by a Paris arbitration court was “a direct challenge to our national sovereignty”.

The special task force should include local legal experts in international arbitration to help overturn the ruling made by the international court, Chong said, adding that it was not the first time that the self-proclaimed Sulu sultanate descendants had challenged Malaysia’s sovereignty.

“The Lahad Datu incident in 2013 remains a dark and unforgettable part of Malaysia’s history, as many of our soldiers gave their lives defending our nation from invading Sulu militants,” he said.

Chong said the recent seizure of the national petroleum and gas company’s assets had also raised another question.

 “Will more of our national assets be taken if these descendants of the Sulu Sultan continue to find ways to justify compensation?”

Last Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that Malaysia had obtained a stay order on the compensation awarded to the Sulu sultanate descendants.

Wan Junaid said that the Paris Court of Appeal on Tuesday allowed an application by the Malaysian government to suspend the enforcement of the final award given to the group that claim they were the heirs to Sultan Jamalul Kiram II.

With the stay order, the final award which had been obtained by Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa, could not be enforced in any country pending a decision by the French court on the finality of the matter.

On Tuesday, Petronas confirmed that two of its subsidiaries in Azerbaijan have been served with ‘Saisie-arret’ on 11 July 2022.

Saisie-arret’ means an act of seizure to obtain the total judgment/decision (award) of an arbitration.

READ MORE: Petronas: Azerbaijan Asset Seizures Baseless, Legal Defense On Its Way

This is after the London-based Financial Times reported that the lawyer to the so-called Sulu heirs had seized two of Petronas subsidiaries – Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) S.à r.l. and Petronas South Caucasus S.à r.l.  – which was reported to be worth more than USD2 billion (RM8.87 billion).

“Petronas views the actions taken against it as baseless and is working vigorously to defend its legal position on this matter,” Petronas said in a statement.

Malaysia too had filed an appeal to overturn Stampa’s award to the Sulu heirs in Paris, which was filed on 3 March in Paris’ Court of Appeals, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.


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