Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will proceed with legal action against Anwar Ibrahim over the prime minister’s claims that the former had amassed wealth for personal riches while in power.
“Tun (Mahathir) has instructed us to proceed with action in court. What this proves is that Anwar has not apologised nor retracted his statement.
“To Tun, it is a lie by the prime minister,” said Mahathir’s lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, in a text message to Malaysiakini.
A letter dated today (April 17) sent by Anwar’s lawyer Alliff Benjamin Suhaimi, stated that the Pakatan Harapan chairperson denied all allegations made by Mahathir.
“For your information, we have been instructed by our client to deny all allegations and content in your letter.
“In this regard, our client is ready to answer any allegations - if any - in court and not through correspondence if your client wants to proceed with legal action,” the letter stated.
Mahathir sent a letter of demand to Anwar on March 27, demanding that the prime minister retracts his claims made during his policy speech at the PKR Special National Congress 2023, on March 18.
If Anwar failed to respond to the letter, Mahathir said, he would proceed with legal action.
Anwar’s initial deadline to respond to Mahathir’s legal letter was April 3, but it was postponed to today after Anwar’s lawyers asked for an extension.
Anwar did not mention names, but…
Though Anwar did not mention any names in his speech, he did refer to someone who “after 22 years and 22 months of being in power, is lamenting about Malays losing everything, losing assets, shares”.
“When you lose power, when challenged, when you are fearful of the MACC and Inland Revenue Board coming down hard… you are worth billions (but) you don’t pay your taxes, you move your wealth abroad. What sort of prime minister should I be then?” Anwar was reported as saying.
Mahathir claimed this was a clear reference to him as media reports on the speech mentioned his name.
On April 7, Anwar said he had no qualms about providing evidence to Mahathir to back his claims.
“I don’t want to fight. He has asked for proof, I will give (him) proof, no problem,” Anwar said during a dialogue session with students at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
At the same event, Anwar also took a swipe at Mahathir, stating that while the latter’s governance had its strengths, the nonagenarian had also caused a lot of damage. - Mkini
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