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KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has sent a legal letter to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, giving the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman three days to apologise and retract a slew of “defamatory” and “libellous” statements made during a recent campaign event in Kedah.
The letter, issued by his lawyers S.N. Nair & Partners today, gave Muhyiddin the three-day duration to provide feedback before Anwar proceeds with filing a defamation suit.
The letter of demand was in relation to a speech Muhyiddin made during PN’s Grand Finale ceramah in Padang Serai on December 5, and which was uploaded by @beritakini8 on TikTok.
According to the law firm, the TikTok video received 1.1 million views, and 6,061 comments, apart from 21,400 likes.
Among others, the firm alleged that Muhyiddin had implied that Anwar had abused his power as an MP, and had been a liar and an unethical individual who had betrayed the people’s mandate.
The firm also said Muhyiddin’s speech had implied that Anwar was “unprincipled” and “corrupt”, apart from being a “hypocrite” who used dirty tactics to manipulate others.
Anwar’s lawyers also pointed out that Muhyiddin had alleged that the prime minister had previously received RM15 million in salary as an advisor to the Selangor state government.
Anwar was appointed Selangor economic adviser in November 2009 when the late Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was the state’s menteri besar, continuing to hold the post when the state was under the leadership of Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
Refuting Muhyiddin’s claims, Juwairiya Zulkifli, who is political secretary to Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, said Anwar was meant to receive RM1 annually as a “symbolic salary” during his time as Selangor economic adviser in 2009.
In a Facebook post today, Juwairiya said the salary was not paid to Anwar since his appointment date.
Last week, Anwar sent a letter of demand to Baling MP Hassan Saad to explain why he accused the newly minted prime minister of being an Israeli agent.
The letter, also issued by law firm S.N. Nair & Partners, gave Hassan three days to clarify his claims that there was “Israeli influence” in Anwar’s appointment as prime minister.
Anwar’s letter of demand said that the audio clip had been uploaded online by Twitter users using the handles “Mohd Ropi Mat Sin” and “Pemikir Malaysia”, and the recording has since gone viral.
Anwar is also contending that the accusation had ridiculed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who consented to his appointment as prime minister, and also the Malay rulers as the king had discussed the appointment with them.
The letter added that since Hassan had not denied the authenticity of the audio clip, he is considered directly responsible for the claims against Anwar. – The Vibes, December 7, 2022