The big question has been answered and now comes the possibility of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad testifying as a star witness in the defamation suit between Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik.

When posed with this question, lawyer Ranjit Singh, who represents Ling, was non-committal.

“It is still too early to say. Let me study the documents first and prepare the drafting of Ling's defence statement,” Ranjit said when contacted by Malaysiakini .

He also confirmed that his law firm has been served with the writ of Najib's suit.

The matter is now fixed for case management on Nov 26 before High Court judge Justice John Louis O'Hara in Kuala Lumpur.

Najib filed the suit on Tuesday through the firm of Hafarizam, Wan Aisha and Mubarak, against Ling, a long-time minister in Mahathir's ( photo ) cabinet, who claimed that public money entered into the prime minister's personal accounts.

Najib complained that the words uttered by Ling meant that he had abused his powers, was not qualified to be the leader of the government, was involved in a scandalous or financial conspiracy and that he was not fit to be the BN chairperson.

He said the words also meant that the BN chairperson had misappropriated or abused public funds for his personal interests and to gain wealth or that he had misappropriated government funds belonging to 1MDB and that he had betrayed the trust of the people by abusing his position.

Najib is seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages.

Mahathir testified for Ling

Mahathir had previously testified as defence witness for Ling in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) case, where the former transport minister was acquitted of a charge of cheating the government.

It was also reported that Najib and former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had refused to testify in Ling's defence when they were subpoenaed, and they applied to set their subpoenas aside.

Since the 1MDB fiasco broke out, Mahathir has become the staunchest critic in Najib's handling of the matter and has been calling for his removal as prime minister.

Police reports have been filed against the 90-year-old for criminal defamation for accusing Najib of bribing Umno leaders and urging Umno and BN lawmakers to support a vote of no confidence against the sitting PM during the Bersih 4 rally, where Mahathir made an appearance.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed in Parliament that three police reports have been filed against Mahathir, Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister, two in Klang and one in Jinjang.