BN strategic communication deputy director Eric See-To and Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng have settled their respective defamation suits against each other.

See-To said the two met in chambers at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur this evening and agreed to drop their suits.

"We both agreed to drop the suits, and I stand by my original statement that he was delaying his own corruption trial, although he had said several times that he was looking forward to clearing his name in court.

"Now the issue has been settled and I get to keep my original statement,” he said in a statement.

"This means I had not defamed Lim, which he had alleged in his statement and threatened to sue me for.

“The settlement also means he will no longer sue me over that statement in future too," he added.

See-To sued Lim (photo) in August, over a month after the latter threatened a lawsuit against him and the New Straits Times.

Lim had threatened legal action after See-To slammed the DAP secretary-general for suggesting that Penang's welfare programs would be jeopardised if he is convicted of corruption.

The comments were carried in an NST report.

In that report, Lim purportedly said that Penang folk were afraid that his incarceration would affect the state’s i-Sejahtera program, which provides single mothers, disabled people, senior citizens and housewives with a RM100 cash handout.

Lim's office denied he had made such a statement at the Penang DAP Hari Raya Aidilfitri Open House in Jawi, Nibong Tebal on July 1.

See-To later clarified that Lim did indeed make the remarks, but in 2016.

"The fact remains that Lim did make such remarks in his official statement dated July 1, 2016," See-To had said.

Lim's office claimed that BN is attempting to use the corruption charges against him to divert attention from the 1MDB scandal, and reiterated the chief minister's claim that the charges amounted to political persecution.

Lim was charged under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2008 on June 30 last year for allegedly abusing his power in the rezoning of a plot of land.

He also faced another charge under Section 165 of the Penal Code for allegedly obtaining a bungalow without adequate consideration.

The government had begun contempt proceedings against Lim in September last year over the latter's claim of political persecution.