Former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's legal action against him was not a genuine purpose of obtaining legal redress.

This, Ling said, comes despite others having said much worse things than what he had said about Najib, but yet the prime minister did not sue them.

The former transport minister named the others as former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, former Wanita Umno head Rafidah Aziz and US financial daily The Wall Street Journal .

"I have been singled out by the PM who himself recognises that all I was doing was expressing my personal opinion. Am I not entitled to the same concept of freedom of expression?

"I must conclude the PM has not issued proceedings against me for a genuine purpose of obtaining legal redress. The PM needs the public to think that he is not afraid to go to court to protect his reputation.

"This is merely to create a perception to lend legitimacy to his actions. Thus, I repeat that this action by the PM is an abuse of process (of the court)," Ling said in his affidavit in support of his application to strike out Najib's defamation suit.

Ling is trying to strike out Najib's suit against him for defamation, which was filed on Oct 29 last year, following a report carried by a news portal that quoted the former MCA president and transport minister as calling for Najib's resignation.

The former transport minister added that if Najib cared about his reputation, he should have instituted action not only against him but against all other parties that have criticised him including Mahathir, The Wall Street Journal and Sarawak Report.

In his affidavit-in-reply, the former MCA president cited various postings including those by former de-facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim, Muhyiddin, former Langkawi Wanita Umno member Anina Saadudin, Rista Villa Perdana Umno branch head Rushdan Mohamed and former information minister Zainuddin Maidin all of whom had criticised Najib.

Abuse of court process

Ling said he agreed with Mahathir's opinion that Najib was unfit to continue to hold office because he had large sums of monies not belonging to him transferred into his personal bank accounts, a fact which the PM has admitted.

“The PM's reply and defence to my counter-claim in which Najib states that such donations should be channelled into the plaintiff's personal account was merely a personal opinion of him.

“Thus the PM accepts the fact that I have expressed my personal opinion that donations should not be channelled into his personal accounts,” he said.

Ling further referred to what Mahathir stated in his affidavit in it was strange that he (Mahathir) was accorded the right to freedom of expression to criticise Najib but not him (Ling).

For this reasons, the former MCA president claimed that Najib's suit against him was an abuse of the court process and there was no reasonable cause of action.