KUALA LUMPUR – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has allowed an extension for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to respond to the former’s letter of demand dated March 27.
Dr Mahathir’s lawyer, Rafique Rashid, confirmed that his firm had received a notice from the firm representing the prime minister, Thomas Philip, requesting an extension to April 17.
In a press statement, Rafique said that Dr Mahathir had no objection to the request, but noted the former prime minister reserved all his rights in the claim.
Previously, Dr Mahathir had urged Anwar to retract his claims that the former had amassed wealth during his prime ministership to enrich his family.
Subsequently, Dr Mahathir said he would pursue legal action, should Anwar fail to respond within seven days to the letter sent on the aforementioned date.
“The accusations are terrible and give the impression that I stole and misappropriated monies, failed to pay taxes, am a cheat, and so on,” Dr Mahathir said.
“His (Anwar’s) speech was clearly referring to me and not anyone else as I was in power for 22 years and 22 months,” he said in response to Anwar’s speech during a special PKR congress, which the former prime minister said had painted him in a bad light. – The Vibes, April 4, 2023