Businessman denies RM100m defection offer to Anifah, challenges minister repeat claims outside court
(Malay Mail Online) – Former KFC deputy executive chairman Datuk Ishak Ismail (pic) today denied offering Datuk Seri Anifah Aman RM100 million to defect from Barisan Nasional (BN) and to secure 10 other defections for the benefit of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Ishak also challenged the Anifah to repeat the accusation outside court, where privilege against legal action will not apply, allowing him to clear his name through legal action for defamation.
Ishak warned he will sue the federal minister if he repeats the ‘slanderous’ remarks outside court.
Ishak also claimed that an intermediary of Anifah had recently approached him and asked him to “persuade” Anwar to withdraw their on-going defamation suit.
“I categorically deny having made any such offer to him (Anifah) or indeed to anyone and to suggest that I did has severe repercussions on my reputation,” Ishak said in a statement today.
The businessman said that when he told Anifah’s intermediary he could not persuade Anwar to drop the suit as he was not in contact with the PKR de facto leader, it was “indicated” that his (Ishak’s) name would be dragged into the defamation case.
“I have been advised by my lawyers that since Datuk Seri Anifah Aman was testifying in court, he is likely to enjoy absolute privilege and I am therefore likely to be prohibited from suing him to protect my name.
“I therefore call on Datuk Seri Anifah Aman to either apologise unreservedly for his slanderous remarks or repeat them outside court so I can bring proceedings against him for defamation,” Ishak said.
Anifah had made the claim against Ishak in open court last week while testifying over Anwar’s defamation suit against him.
Foreign Minister Anifah identified Ismail as the individual who made the alleged proposition during a meeting at the Hilton Hotel.
“I was upset about the offer and felt it was cheap as I was a three-term MP. I told Ishak ‘don’t you ever repeat those words’,” Anifah was quoted as saying in a report by news portal Malaysiakini.
“I had stated in my speech in parliament in May 2008 that I rejected a post as a deputy minister as I was upset with the federal government for not giving recognition to MPs from Sabah and Sarawak.”
Anifah also said he had then insisted he would not defect to the opposition despite unhappiness over BN’s loss of five states to Pakatan Rakyat pact in Election 2008.
Anwar filed the defamation lawsuit against Anifah in 2009, after the Sabah lawmaker dropped the bombshell during a joint news conference with then-United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
During the event, Anifah alleged that the bid was part of Anwar’s purported bid to gain enough federal lawmakers on his side to oust the BN administration from power on September 16, 2008.
The case took an eventful path following repeated attempts by Anifah to have the lawsuit dismissed, before the Federal Court decided in April that the trial be heard at the High Court here.
When questioned earlier by Anwar’s lawyer, Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, the minister conceded that the alleged offer was made by Ishak and not directly by the opposition leader as he claimed during the press conference.
He also told his own lawyer, Tan Sri Muhd Shafee Abdullah, that he could not recall the exact date when Ishak made the purported offer.
But he said the enticement was common knowledge after several Sabah lawmakers came to him with the information.
Anwar initiated the defamation action seeking RM100 million in compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages from Anifah in May 2009 following the publicly-broadcast news conference with Clinton.
The PKR de facto chief claimed that Anifah’s accusations were false, unfounded, and were broadcast across both local and international media.
Anifah has claimed that his remarks were intended to be off the record and limited to the people physically present during the press conference in Washington DC.
