KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s defamation suit against against current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the matter of the RM8.3 billion Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlers’ debt write-off will begin on Dec 2 next year.
During a case management via Zoom on Wednesday morning, High Court judge Leong Wai Hong set Dec 2-5 and Dec 16-19 next year as trial dates.
The judge then instructed Muhyiddin’s lawyer Syafinaz Vani from Messrs Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership to file the chronology of facts, bundle of pleadings, agreed facts and agreed issues to be tried, as well as other documents by Dec 29 this year.
He also instructed both parties, including Anwar’s lawyer Daniel Albert from Messrs Daniel and Wong, to file a summary of the case and a list of witnesses by the same date (Dec 29, 2023).
Both parties were also instructed to file witness statements by Jan 31, 2024. The next case management will be on Feb 5, 2024.
The two statesmen have been embroiled in a war of words over the debt write-off and have filed letters of demand against each other.
The waiver of the Felda settlers’ loans was first announced in July 2021 by Muhyiddin. However, Anwar, who is also Tambun Member of Parliament (MP), claimed that zero allocations were made to resolve and dispose of Felda’s debts under the Perikatan Nasional government’s budgets.
In Anwar’s counterclaim letter, his lawyers also argued that their client’s comments on the matter were taken out of context.
Muhyiddin first sent a letter of demand (LOD) through his lawyers on July 18, over Anwar’s statements alleging that the ex-PM (Muhyiddin)’s administration had never implemented his (Muhyiddin)’s promise to write off RM8.3 billion in loans granted to Felda settlers.
Following the LOD, the Pakatan Harapan chief (Anwar) had shared documents to the public and the media that he had signed and executed agreements in relation to a government guarantee for Felda in late June.
According to previous reports, the government guarantee will enable 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.
The Finance Ministry, which Anwar also helms, said 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 that was implemented in 2021, it said.
This means that the waiver of the settlers’ debt — 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 settlers’ loans any longer, as it had a huge impact on Felda’s cash flow.
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