Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has issued a letter of demand to ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin, seeking an apology within 24 hours in relation to alleged defamation linked to the Felda settlers’ debt waiver issue.
The Pakatan Harapan chairperson’s legal letter issued today came on the heels of the Perikatan Nasional chief yesterday saying that the latter would file a defamation suit against the former.
According to the letter of demand dated today, issued by law firm SN Nair and Partners, the Tambun MP seeks Muhyiddin to make:
an unqualified apology to be run in newspapers and media of Anwar’s choice.
a retraction of Muhyiddin’s letter of demand to Anwar as well as the Pagoh MP’s alleged defamatory statements against the premier.
pay substantive compensation of RM200 million over aggravated damages.
pay legal costs to Anwar.
In the legal letter sighted by Malaysiakini, Anwar’s lawyers contended that in response to Muhyiddin’s own legal letter, the premier had made a Facebook post on July 20 with the alleged evidence sought by Muhyiddin.
Anwar’s lawyers claimed that it was malicious of Muhyiddin to claim the premier had not given any response to the former prime minister regarding the issue of the Felda debt waiver.
Anwar’s legal team claimed that Muhyiddin had not looked at the premier’s full speech and had purportedly taken the PKR’s president’s words out of context.
The premier’s lawyers claim that Anwar’s statement was corroborated by Felda chairperson Ahmad Shabery Cheek earlier on July 8, thus proving Anwar’s allegation.
Earlier this month, Anwar had claimed that an initiative under Muhyiddin’s administration to forgive Felda settlers’ debts in 2021 never materialised, as there was no allocation in the 2021 and 2022 federal budgets to waive the RM8.3 billion in debt.
“Only in the Madani budget for 2023, I provided an early allocation of RM990 million to waive Felda settlers’ debts of RM8.3 billion,” he said, adding that he has signed off on the relevant document in late June.
Muhyiddin denied Anwar’s claims and challenged him to reveal the document he purportedly signed in June. He also demanded an apology, failing which, he will sue Anwar for allegedly defaming him.
Later, Anwar released an assignment for Financial Service Reserve Account (FSRA) - providing Felda with a government guarantee and a sukuk issuance order.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin reportedly said the documents released by the Finance Ministry prove that Anwar did not understand the documents he signs.
As no apology was forthcoming from Anwar, Muhyiddin said he has also instructed his lawyers to proceed with the defamation suit against him.
When contacted by Malaysiakini, Anwar’s counsel Sankara Nair confirmed that the letter of demand has been served to Muhyiddin this afternoon.
Malaysiakini is attempting to reach out to Muhyiddin’s legal team over the matter. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.