Jeff Ooi’s Screenshots on 14 June posted an Oriental Daily News article that Mathias Chang, former political secretary to Dr Mahathir, who was then PM, challenged Kalimullah Hassan and Khairy Jamaluddin to a debate to determine if the duo were not the people who cast PM Abdullah Badawi under their control and influence his decision-making.
Kalimullah is the New Straits Times (NST) Press deputy chairman and editorial adviser while Khairy is Abdullah's son-in-law and Pemuda Umno deputy chief.
Chang alleged that Kalimullah and Khairy have seized control behind the throne of power, for their own business interests. Also see my posting Is KJ the de facto PM?. He further accused Kalimullah and Khairy for hypocrisy in preaching about anti-corruption and transparency.
Chang then challenged Kalimullah and Khairy to declare their assets from the time before Abdullah's ascension as the Prime Minister in October 2003, up to the current period as at June 1, 2006.
Chang had been outraged that Kalimullah has used his Sunday Column in the NST to demonise Dr Mahathir, an act he considered as disrespectful and malicious to the elderly statesman, and demanded that the NST deputy chairman cease and desist immediately because the former PM had contributed enormously to the Malays. He also criticised Khairy for orchestrating The Economist magazine during the run-up to Mahathir's retirement to pressure the former Prime Minister to vacate his seat.
Well today, while Dr Mahathir is away in Turkey, Kalimullah launched a counter-attack, by serving a RM50mil defamation suit on Matthias Chang over those statements.
Kalimullah also obtained an interim injunction, granted by a High Court here today, to restrain the lawyer from further uttering or publishing those statements and from causing those statements to be published.
Doesn't Matthias Chang know that 'elegant silence' is in vogue?
Looks like we are getting more and more like the Americans in terms of litigation cost. I wonder how much Matthias Chang will countersue. I am very curious who this Matthias Chang is and what his incentives are in the Mahathir, Badawi and UMNO tussle.
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