‘Muhyiddin had distorted the truth,’ Anwar says in ongoing suit

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as a veteran politician and former prime minister, ought to have known that it was “undesirable” to make public statements that have a tendency to inflame and promote feelings of ill-will during the 15th General Election (GE15), says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In his reply to Muhyiddin’s defence statement against his defamation suit, the Pakatan Harapan chairman claimed that Muhyiddin had distorted the truth and disseminated scurrilous falsehoods in respect of his salary as economic adviser to the Selangor government, more so when the same had been publicly rebutted by Anwar years ago.

Anwar thus claimed that Muhyiddin’s statement during an election campaign in Padang Serai during GE15 campaigning last year was defamatory and malicious.

“Muhyiddin ought to have known that it is undesirable to make public statements that have a tendency to inflame and promote feelings of ill-will, discontent or hostility between persons and candidates, to induce any elector or voter before, during and after election, more so when such statements are defamatory and malicious in nature.

“Nonetheless, the defendant had proceeded to make the same (impugned slanderous and/ or libelous words) via his speeches in an election campaign, which are clearly indisputably a contravention of the Election Offences Act 1954,” Anwar said in his reply to the defence, filed through SN Nair & Partners dated Feb 16, 2023, Bernama reported.

He further claimed that it was not difficult for Muhyiddin, the Perikatan Nasional chairman, to access the publicly available parliamentary Hansard record before making the allegation.

The Tambun MP contended that Muhyiddin had no legal duty to issue the alleged false and malicious statements in the Padang Serai constituency, which is not even the latter’s parliamentary constituency of Pagoh.

In the suit, Anwar, 75, claimed that last Dec 5, Muhyiddin made the slanderous remarks against him in a speech during the “Grand Finale Perikatan Nasional Padang Serai” event in Taman Selasih, Kulim, in support of Perikatan candidate Datuk Azman Nasrudin, which was attended by a large crowd.

Anwar is seeking, among others, general damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages and an injunction to prevent Muhyiddin from continuing to publish or distribute similar defamatory statements.