Tungku state assemblyman urged to apologise over statement on Ambalat

KOTA KINABALU - Tungku state assemblyman Assaffal P Alian is urged to issue a public apology regarding his statement that the central government had surrendered the Ambalat Block in the Sulawesi Sea, Indonesia.

Gerakan Kuasa Rakyat Malaysia (G57) Chairman Datuk Zulkarnain Mahdar Assaffal remarked during the Sabah state assembly session last week.

"The video of his statement has been widely circulated through video recordings, and this is a highly irresponsible and sovereignty-threatening act.

"Deputy Foreign Minister's media statement, Datuk Mohamad Alamin, today mentioned that the agreement was signed between Malaysia and Indonesia, involving only the territorial waters and not encompassing the area referred to as Ambalat or exceeding the 200 nautical miles, which is known as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

"Mohamad Alamin also reaffirmed, as a Member of Parliament from Sabah, that the government is always cautious and prudent in anything related to maritime matters, especially concerning national borders, as it is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Zulkarnain said that at this point, it's not only targeted defamation against Datuk Seri Hajiji, the Sabah Chief Minister but also against the unity government under the leadership of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"Therefore, G57 urges the Tungku state assemblyman to promptly issue an apology to the government, including all the people of Sabah, and also calls for a referral to the Committee on Privileges and Rights after deliberately spreading falsehoods and confusing the state assembly," he said.

Before this, a video of Assaffal's speech expressed his concern that the Sabah government would not repeat the previous mistakes related to the Natural Conservation Agreement (NCA) issue.