This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 19, 2016.

GEORGE TOWN: PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan retracted yesterday an article he posted two years ago, which allegedly contained defamatory statements against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The Temerloh member of parliament (MP) told the Penang High Court that after studying the documents presented to the court, he regretted causing any misunderstanding.

He said as both sides did not want to prolong the matter, he was retracting his article dated Aug 6, 2014, containing points made without basis against Guan Eng.

In the article, Nasrudin had compared the treatment Guan Eng and former Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim received from Pakatan Rakyat over their handling of Penang’s billion-ringgit undersea tunnel and the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

He asked why Abdul Khalid was attacked over the federal-funded Kidex project when Guan Eng was left off easily for backing the tunnel project, which he alleged was awarded to Consortium Zenith Sdn Bhd via direct negotiations despite objections.

Guan Eng sued Nasrudin for defamation after the latter did not respond to his demand for an apology. 

In his witness statement, Guan Eng said the article by Nasrudin had disparaged his reputation and personal standing as chief minister, Bagan MP, Air Putih assemblyman and DAP secretary-general.

He also clarified allegations made by Nasrudin, saying the tunnel project was awarded via an open tender and that the Penang government had not recorded a deficit since taking over the administration.

Judicial commissioner Lim Chong Fong, in the consent judgement, ordered Nasrudin to pay RM10,000 in costs.

Nasrudin, who was represented by law firm Tengku Amalin’s A-Ishah Putri, Faizi and Wan Rohimi, later explained to reporters outside the court his decision to retract the article.

“I retracted the article I wrote on my Facebook page as certain points in my statement caused misunderstanding.” — The Malaysian Insider