Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and PAS mouthpiece Harakah have to indicate to Court of Appeal president Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin next week on whether to proceed with Najib's appeal or wait for the outcome of the Lim Guan Eng vs Perkasa, New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia cases.

This follows case management today before Court of Appeal registrar Hanie Dzatul Akhmar Zulkefli.

Najib's lawyer Nik Alia Hanafi said during the case management that she briefed the court on Lim's appeal, where the Federal Court fixed another date for Lim's case management.

“Then the court decided that the next case management will be before Justice Zulkefli on May 17th at 2.30pm, where parties have to indicate whether to proceed with the appeal or wait the outcome of Lim's case,” Nik Alia told reporters.

Najib had filed the defamation suit against Harakah, its managing director Rosli Yaakop and Harakahdaily chief editor Taufek Yahya following an article that was based on a New York Times report related to 1MDB and Najib's stepson Riza Aziz.

Harakah has indicated that it is not pursuing settlement of the suit and it officially informed on this to then Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif last December 

Najib is appealing to the Court of Appeal against a ruling made by the High Court judge in Kuala Lumpur not to allow the prime minister to amend his statement of claim to include attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's statement that cleared him and his application to have the case continued without calling witnesses, including himself.

Justice Hue Siew Kheng dismissed both applications and had ordered the matter to go for trial, but pending this appeal.

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

Previously, it was reported that Najib was using Lim's leave to appeal before the Federal Court as grounds to postpone his pending appeal, which includes this case against Harakah and also his suit against former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik.

This follows the Court of Appeal ruling, in December, that Lim, who is Penang chief minister, cannot sue the media for defamation in his official capacity as a public official.