KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has proposed that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's defamation suit against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim be referred to mediation.
Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali said the suggestion was made by judicial commissioner Zaharah Hussain during a case management today.
"The court has instructed us to relay the same to our respective clients and update the court during the next case management on Jan 6," he said via WhatsApp.
He said the court also directed both parties to submit their trial documents before the next case management date. Anwar was represented by lawyer Phoebe Loi.
On Oct 2 last year, Dr Mahathir failed to compel Anwar to provide documents linked to the suit, in which he sought RM100 million in exemplary damages, RM50 million in general damages, a written apology and a press conference to apologise for alleged impugned statements made during PKR's special national congress in March of the same year.
During the congress, Anwar had allegedly referred to someone "who in the past had been in power for 22 years and an additional 22 months" as taking advantage of his position to enrich himself and his family.
Anwar, who did not specify any name during his speech, also said this person had complained about the Malays losing everything when he was no longer in power.
Dr Mahathir said he had never been accused or convicted of any wrongdoing involving power abuse or misuse of funds either during or after serving as prime minister.
He claimed that Anwar's statements were unfounded and based only on hearsay.