FORMER premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called out Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for being a “pathological liar” after accusing him of nepotism and cronyism without providing evidence.
The 97-year-old veteran politician, in his 60-page rebuttal against Anwar’s statement of defence against his defamation suit, said that the defendant (Anwar) had alluded to so-called documents as evidence but would then give excuses while refusing to divulge said proof.
Dr Mahathir noted that the Pakatan Harapan chairman’s defence does not contain any proof despite the defendant previously saying that he is prepared to furnish evidence to back his allegations against the plaintiff.
“Since 1998, until the filing of his (Anwar’s) defence, the defendant has never shown any evidence of purported abuse of power or nepotism by the plaintiff (Mahathir). There is only repetition after repetition of his political slander script against me,” the former Langkawi MP said in his statement, according to The Edge.
Dr Mahathir also said the lack of evidence has directly and indirectly indicated that Anwar is a liar.
On June 23, Dr Mahathir, in a notice, had asked Anwar to provide 21 documents as evidence to allegations of nepotism and cronyism in an affidavit.
Anwar’s solicitors had objected to the notice on June 27 by stating that the documents Dr Mahathir had demanded were not referred to in Anwar’s defence, and that the notice asking for the documents seemed vague, imprecise and amounted to a fishing expedition.
Dr Mahathir referred to a report in the New Straits Times on April 7 headlined “Anwar says he will provide evidence of Dr Mahathir exploiting his position” in which he (Anwar) was quoted as saying: “I don’t want to fight. He asked for proof, so I will furnish him with the proof. No problem”.
According to Dr Mahathir, Anwar’s actions in not providing the requested evidence was proof that the prime minister had acted in “bad faith”.
“It does not give the defendant (Anwar) the right to make such defamatory statements, as he is the prime minister now and he is required to issue statements based on the truth only, as whatever statements he issued would receive wide media attention,” Dr Mahathir said.
Enriched his family
Prior to this, Anwar had stated in his defence that Dr Mahathir had abused his position as then prime minister and finance minister and that his (Anwar’s) allegations about the wealth of the former prime minister are true, in reference to the bailing out of Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd (KPB), a company owned by Dr Mahathir’s son Mirzan Mahathir, in 1997 by Petronas and Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC).
Anwar also cited the awarding of Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s contract to Opcom Cables Sdn Bhd, a company in which Mirzan and two other sons of the former prime minister, namely Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, were directors, as another example.
He had also cited Mokhzani’s setting-up of Kencana Capital Sdn Bhd in 2001 (which later became Kencana Petroleum Bhd and is now known as SE Petroleum Bhd), highlighting that the company was awarded a major fabrication licence by Petronas in 2002, despite the fact that it was newly incorporated.
Dr Mahathir, in his reply, said Anwar’s reasons for opposing last month’s notice to provide evidence is illogical in law.
“Until now, no documents with regard to the allegations have been provided, despite the defendant (Anwar) repeatedly saying he would produce the evidence in court,” he noted.
“The documents sought by me can be filed at any time. I reserve the right to make further application for the discovery of the 21 documents.”
He then denied Anwar’s allegations that his attacks against the latter were meant to undermine Anwar and his government.
He also denied that his comments on the Malays were to regain support, political credibility and relevance.
Dr Mahathir had filed a RM150 mil defamation suit against Anwar in May over the latter’s claim in a speech that the PKR president had made at the PKR Congress in March this year that “a leader of 22 years and 22 months” had enriched his family. – July 7, 2023
