(May 11): Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has filed an application to strike out a defamation suit by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak against the opposition leader's speech at a DAP fund-raising dinner last year.

Pua's lawyer Alliff Benjamin said the main ground of the application was that Najib lacked capacity to bring the action.

"As prime minister, Najib does not have the locus standi because he must be prepared to accept criticism," he told The Malaysian Insider after a case management before High Court deputy registrar Pavani Kasi today.

Alliff said the application was filed last Friday and a copy of the court papers was served on Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, the solicitors for Najib.

He said the next case management had been fixed on June 17 where the court was expected to scheduled the date to hear the striking out application.

The prime minister, who filed the suit on March 6 last year, had also named Mediarakyat portal owner, Chan Chee Keong, as second defendant.

Both were sued over comments on strategic investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB),

In the suit, Najib said that the recording of the speech, which was uploaded by Chan or his agents on to Mediarakyat's YouTube and Facebook page, was later re-published by Pua on his Facebook page.

Najib is seeking an apology, a retraction of the statement and damages.

He is also seeking an injunction to restrain Pua from further publishing any defamatory statements about him.

Najib had earlier sent a letter of demand to Pua to apologise within 14 days in two national newspapers, or face legal action over the speech entitled “Tony Pua: Najib is creating the biggest scandal ever in the history of Malaysia”.

According to a transcript in the letter, Pua had said: “Let me tell you, this is the problem with Barisan Nasional. No one dares to stand up to the prime minister, and Najib now is like a king. A king that is creating the biggest scandal ever in the history of Malaysia. Huge! No one dares to say a thing, nothing, not even a pin drop from any MCA or Gerakan leader or even Umno leaders...

“It is disgraceful, it is scandalous for a 100% Ministry of Finance-owned entity with the board of advisers chaired by the prime minister himself not being able to submit accounts on time, especially when the company is so big, when the public looks at it with great interest RM36 billion in debt they are not able to submit their account on time...

“There is only one reason why I think they can. The reason why they can is because all these MCA, MIC, Gerakan kakis all don’t dare to challenge their prime minister, all say okay, okay thank you, please carry on and rob the people’s money."

In his defence, Pua said he had a duty as the people's representative to raise issues of public interest.

"It is my legal, social and moral duty to raise issues of public interest," said Pua, citing qualified privilege as one of his grounds of defence in response to Najib's suit.

The opposition party’s national publicity chief also said that the public have the right to receive information on issues that affect them.

"As an MP I made a fair comment on a matter of public interest based on verified information and facts," he said in court documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider.

In the first case of a prime minister suing a lawmaker for defamation in Malaysia, Pua is also relying on the defence of justification and said the information revealed to the public on 1MDB was true.

In the 23-page document of defence, Pua also questioned Najib's standing to file the suit since he was Pekan MP, prime minister and finance minister.

Chan had also filed his defence on March 31.

The suit will be heard before judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera. – The Malaysian Insider