KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have mutually agreed to drop their defamation suits against each other.
In a joint statement, both leaders indicated that the decision was made by recommendations from the High Court Judge and considerations for the current state of the nation, particularly concerning the people's livelihood.
"Anwar and Muhyiddin have both decided to cease their personal dispute and end the proceedings at the High Court.
"They also express their gratitude to the High Court Judge and officials involved and hope that the decision will be accepted and respected by all parties.
"They have also agreed not to make further statements regarding the matter and hope that the issue will not be used to undermine public welfare and trust towards the National Judiciary Institution," the statement read.
The statement was published via the Facebook accounts of Anwar and Muhyiddin.
Meanwhile, an official spokesperson told the New Straits Times that the defamation suit was related to the dispute on the settlement of Felda's debts between the two and claims that Anwar was paid RM15 million while he was the economic adviser to Selangor.
Muhyiddin, who is the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, had in July last year demanded an open and unconditional written apology from Anwar following the latter's claim that Felda settlers' debt totalling RM8.3 billion had never been waived during PN's administration.
Muhyiddin insisted he had been responsible for executing a decision in 2021 and accused Anwar of lying to claim credit.
Anwar then responded by saying Muhyiddin's administration had only agreed to the debt waiver, but never followed through with it.
He also released documents to prove that he was the one who had signed a debt waiver scheme for Felda settlers and demanded an apology from Muhyiddin over the latter's Felda claim.
Meanwhile, in December 2022, Anwar filed a defamation suit against Muhyiddin over the latter's statement during a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ceramah, in which he claimed that Anwar had received RM15 million from the Selangor state government as its economic adviser.
Anwar in his suit had sought compensation for general and exemplary damages, as well as an injunction to restrain the defendant from further disclosing, composing or publishing similar statements against him.
