KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he will proceed to file a defamation suit against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlers' debt waiver issue.
Muhyiddin said Anwar had failed to submit an unconditional and open apology as requested.
"Since Anwar failed to submit an unconditional and open apology to me within 24 hours as contained in my lawyer's demand letter to him, I have instructed my lawyer to proceed with a defamation suit against him.
Muhyiddin reiterated that the "proof" released by Anwar earlier is not a debt waiver agreement for Felda settlers and instead claimed that it is an agreement on government-backed sukuk.
"The document is about Sukuk. I have also explained many times before that the document that Anwar signed was about Sukuk and not the disposal of Felda settler's debt.
"The disclosure of the document proved that I was telling the truth. The one who lied and slandered me was Anwar," he said in a Facebook post.
He said the Finance Ministry's media release today also confirmed that Anwar signed off a government guarantee of RM9.9 billion and not the settlement for Felda settlers' debt of RM8.3 billion as he had done it while he was in power in 2021.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin sent a letter of demand to Anwar seeking an apology and retraction within 24 hours.
Muhyiddin insisted he had been responsible for executing the decision in 2021, and accused Anwar of lying to claim credit.
Anwar responded by saying Muhyiddin's administration had only agreed to the debt waiver, but never followed through with it, which was why he could still do it now in 2023. Anwar released documents to prove that he was the one who had signed a debt waiver scheme for Felda settlers.
He demanded an apology from Muhyiddin over the latter's Felda claim.
The Finance Ministry, in a statement today, confirmed that Anwar had signed the agreement on June 26.
"As per the announcement in a media statement issued by the ministry on June 28, the agreement involves a government guarantee totalling RM9.9 billion for Felda via the issuance of sukuk and revolving credit for it to recover financially," said the ministry.
Muhyiddin's former aide, Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad earlier today claimed that the document Anwar released is an agreement on government-backed sukuk that was being issued in phases.