Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak need not testify yet in his suit against PAS mouthpiece Harakah next Wednesday at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur over its report on his stepson Riza Aziz and 1MDB.

The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, which made the ruling today, granted a stay of the proceeding on the request of Najib's lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun after he failed to get a stay from the High Court last week.

Hafarizam told the three-member bench that Najib has two appeals pending at the Court of Appeal with regard to the case which have yet to be decided.

"Following this, we apply for the suspension of the proceeding. I believe the respondent has no objection," he said.

Lawyer Mohd Faizi Che Abu, representing Harakah's editors, concurred.

With this, Court of Appeal judge Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who led the bench, allowed the stay.

The other judges were Justice Hamid Sultan Abu Backer and Justice Ahmadi Asnawi.

Najib is appealing on two matters – amending his statement of claim to insert the statement by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali that he had been cleared of the 1MDB caper; and Najib's application to go into the case without calling witnesses.

Both applications were dismissed by trial judge Justice Hue Siew Kheng.

Justice Hue had thrown out Najib's application to amend the statement of claim to insert Apandi's statement and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) statement on April 7.

On May 23, the High Court judge also dismissed Najib's application under Order 14A of the Rules of Court 2012, as the defences of 'qualified privilege' and 'fair comment' were questions of facts and law, and that the matter could only be resolved in a full trial.

If the two-day trial were to take place next week, it would be the first time Najib would have to appear in court as he has five suits pending.

While Najib and his wife Rosmah had settled a suit with Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, he has pending suits against Malaysiakini, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua, and former MCA president and former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik.

Najib named Harakah managing director Dr Rosli Yaakop and Harakahdaily chief editor Taufek Yahya as defendants in the defamation suit filed on March 18 last year, following the publication of the article which was mainly based on a New York Times report.

In his statement of claim, Najib had said the article portrayed him as having misused 1MDB funds and that the publication of the article was intended to tarnish his reputation.

He had previously applied to strike out two paragraphs of Harakah's defence but failed at the High Court and also at the Court of Appeal.