Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has taken Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz to task for reportedly issuing letters to government-linked companies (GLCs) to withdraw suits filed against former MAS chairperson Tajudin Ramli.

NONE Anwar said any directive on matters concerning GLCs should come from the finance minister or Ministry of Finance, not from Nazri.

"Such orders should have come from the Minister of Finance (and not Nazri) as this concerns GLCs.

"The government said it had a strong case against Tajudin involving billions of ringgit (when filing the suit). It is a disturbing," said Anwar, once a finance minister himself.

                        

According to The Malaysian Insider , Nazri had, in letters sent this month to the GLCs and Danaharta, informed them that the Finance Ministry had agreed to settle all outstanding civil suits against Tajudin.

NONE "This is to inform you that the government of Malaysia and the Finance Ministry have agreed to settle all civil claims against Tan Sri Dato Tajudin Ramli ( left ) and others to be withdrawn immediately in view of the fact that the government and the Finance Ministry have agreed that the said cases will be settled out of court.

"For your information, the government has given me the mandate to act for the government in this matter," the news portal quoted Nazri  as saying in the letters.

The letters dated Aug 8 were sent to a number of GLCs.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Naluri Corporation, Celcom (M) Bhd, Atlan Holdings Bhd, Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd, Malaysia Airlines and Duta Skyline Bhd are among a number of GLCs that sued Tajudin following billions of ringgit in losses suffered by MAS.

They had each filed million ringgit lawsuits against Tajudin and other people, including former police officer Shahidan Shafie, who is close to the former MAS chairperson, in the courts in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam.

In return, Tajudin filed counter-claims amounting to RM13.5 billion against these GLCs in 2006, claiming he was brought in by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as part of doing national service.

The former big-time corporate player, who is close to former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, has alleged that he had suffered losses as a result of taking over MAS.

'Global settlement being worked out'

In a related development, it is learnt that the parties in all cases involving Tajudin, the government and the GLCs are negotiating for a global settlement at all levels of the court process.

According to sources, some of the matters had apparently come up before Federal Court judge Md Raus Shariff, who is the managing judge in the commercial division today.

The cases have been fixed again for Sept 29, for case management pending settlement.

There are also cases pending before the Court of Appeal, and parties are to inform the respective courts by Sept 29 as to whether they will settle or negotiate.

Tajudin's lawyer, Lim Kian Leong, said he has not received instructions to reveal any information on the case.

Newly appointed lawyer for the government Mohd Hafarizam Harun declined comment when contacted.