KUALA LUMPUR – Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has filed his defamation suit against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the high court here yesterday, claiming the sitting prime minister was being “populist” in taking credit for writing off Felda settlers’ debts.
In his statement of claim, Muhyiddin said he as prime minister in 2021 had signed off on the decision, and that recent documents released by Anwar’s government only showed the issuance of sukuk and annual grants for Felda, but not the actual decision to write off the RM8.3 billion debts.
Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president, alleged that Anwar is trying to confuse, demean and undermine his (Muhyiddin’s) performance as prime minister.
“Anwar knew that the publication of the statements would stifle and discredit (Bersatu) to his benefit in view of the state elections on August 12,” New Straits Times reported Muhyiddin as saying in his statement of claim.
“The defendant, as the prime minister and also finance minister, must be aware of the clear difference between the Felda settlers’ debt write-off and the Felda RM9.9 billion sukuk.
“Anwar was either ignorant, improperly briefed, or had deliberately manipulated the sukuk document and passed it off as the Felda settlers’ debt write-off," Muhyiddin added.
The former prime minister is seeking exemplary damages commensurating with the RM200 million compensation claimed by Anwar.
Muhyiddin’s lawsuit followed his earlier letter of demand to Anwar, demanding a retraction of statements about the Felda debts write-off.
Anwar, in turn, demanded an apology from Muhyiddin and a retraction of the letter of demand.
The prime minister contended that while the PN administration had agreed to the debt waiver, it was never followed through with, and no budget allocation was made for it until the unity government made room for it. – The Vibes, July 28, 2023
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