KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has given Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim an ultimatum via a letter of demand to apologise unconditionally and retract statements Anwar had made over the Felda settlers debt cancellation.
According to the letter by law firm Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership (RDS) dated July 18, Anwar was given 24 hours for the apology or he would be sued.
Muhyiddin sent the letter of demand because of statements the current prime minister had made, alleging that Muhyiddin’s administration had never implemented his promise to write off RM8.3 billion in loans granted to Felda settlers.
According to the letter, Anwar had made the comments which is seen as defamatory and misleading, on July 7 at a Felda Settlers Day 2023 ceremony in Serdang regarding the settlers' debt cancellation, which was streamed live on Facebook and widely disseminated with the aim of bringing down Muhyiddin's reputation, the law firm said. The letter added that it (the Facebook live stream video) had been watched 142,000 times as of July 18.
The letter states that Anwar had made these comments without “factual basis” and is “slanderous to Muhyiddin’s image”.
“We are instructed by our client that the said defamatory statement is wholly untrue, unjustified, malicious and made without any basis whatsoever,” the letter read.
“The statement, which is a lie, false and misleading, in its ordinary and natural meaning or sarcasm, has tarnished and damaged the good name and reputation of our client and tarnished his image and integrity as a former prime minister and national leader,” it added.
The letter claimed that on July 8, Muhyiddin had taken to social media to explain that it was his administration that cancelled the debt in 2021.
The letter also brought up that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed had called Anwar a “pathological liar” before.
“Dr Mahathir had called Datuk Seri (Anwar) a ‘pathological liar’ in a court document, where[in] he (Mahathir) is claiming defamation against you (Anwar). This is very regrettable that a statesman like Dr Mahathir would label you (Anwar) like that. Our client says that it is also very unfortunate that you as the prime minister and finance minister, practices propaganda of lies and slander,” the letter read.
On June 28, Anwar had signed an agreement involving a government guarantee for Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) to restructure the agency's loans through the issuance of sukuk and revolving credit, in an effort to restore the agency's finances and enable it to continue to waive some RM8.3 billion worth of settlers' loans.
According to the Finance Ministry of which Anwar is minister, a large part of this Felda loan restructuring will involve a reduction of Felda's debt principal with financial institutions by RM7.9 billion.
The move will also reduce Felda's financial cost against interest rates imposed and enable Felda to cancel 80% of the settler's debt amounting to RM8.3 billion that was implemented in 2021, it said.
This means that the waiver of the settler's debts, which Putrajaya previously announced in February this year that it had halted due to Felda's cash flow problems, would continue.
At the time, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Azalina Othman had informed Parliament via a written reply that the government would not be able to carry on writing off Felda settler's loans any longer, as it had made a huge impact on Felda's cash flow. The waiver of the Felda settler's loans was first announced in July 2021 by Muhyiddin.