KUALA LUMPUR: At 99 years old, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad proved his resilience as he weathered nearly 800 questions during cross-examination in his defamation suit against Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The former prime minister, who filed the lawsuit over the deputy prime minister's claims about his ancestry, defended his reputation and name.
Dr Mahathir, who had filed the suit claiming Zahid had alleged his real name was "Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty" instead of "Mahathir bin Mohamad", expressed dismay.
He said Zahid had brandished a photograph of an identity card on his phone, purportedly showing the name "a/l Iskandar Kutty" as proof.
"When he lifted the phone and showed it, he (Zahid) said, 'This is the IC' (referring to the phone). That would not be officially accepted anywhere if we were to show a picture on a phone.
"This is my IC and my family's, and the copy was provided by the National Registration Department itself.
"Today's proceedings were straightforward, as I've already addressed these 800 questions," he said when met after proceedings today.
On July 20, 2022, Dr Mahathir filed the suit, naming Zahid as the defendant.
His suit stated that the plaintiff genuinely believes that the defendant's reference in the alleged defamatory statement to "that person", "he" and "Mahathir, the son of Iskandar Kutty", explicitly referred to him.
Dr Mahathir said his status as a statesman and an influential political figure in the eyes of the world was also skewed as a result.
He claimed Zahid's statement made him out to be a liar, untrustworthy, selfish and unethical while holding public office and unfit to be a leader or public figure, he said.