Former Felda chairperson Shahrir Samad today took a jibe at Pakatan Harapan over the RM100 million defamation suit brought against him by Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd, the company that was involved in the development of the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City.

"This is 'New Malaysia', I think maybe that's why I got sued.

"It is rather abnormal that a former chairperson of a government agency is being summoned by a private company when the chairperson had resigned on May 14," he said at a press conference today at Kuala Lumpur.

Shahrir stated that the memorandum of understanding which was inked in January and which allowed Felda to regain possession of the land was still effective, he said.

Read more: Shahrir defends RM114m found in Pavilion Residences

He added that the police report lodged by Felda in December 2017 has not been retracted, thus showing police are still probing the case.

He also expressed shocked when he heard the amount of damages sought by the plaintiff.

"But maybe this is part of what we see as the New Malaysia, where Felda has yet to appoint a new president while there is no new minister in-charge of Felda," he said.

"New Malaysia" is a term mostly used by Harapan politicians, referring to the country's supposed democratisation after BN was removed from power for the first time in its history at the May 9 polls. 

No apology

Shahrir also insisted that he will not apologise, as also demanded by the plaintiff.

"No way. I made a fair comment. I did not speak nor announce anything that was not approved by Felda.

"Felda is under the supervision unit of the Prime Minister's Department. We had to consult the legal unit of PMD and obtain the views of the attorney-general.

"It is not Shahrir's own opinion," he stressed, adding he was in the dark of the purported defamatory remarks made by him as has yet to receive to any written summons.

Shahrir believes he is both an "easy target" because his contact details can be found on Google, and not an easy target because he has no money to pay the developer.

As such, he will seek the intervention of the new attorney-general in his case. 

Misleading statements

In filing the suit today, Synergy Promenade claimed that Shahrir made misleading statements on the company between November 2017 and March this year.

Read more: Vertical City firm sues Shahrir over controversial land deal case

However, the company's lawyer Mohamed Reza Rahim did not state what these allegedly defamatory statements were. 

Reza only stated that these statements were reported in the mainstream media, as well as in the online media and reproduced on social media. 

Synergy Promenade is alleged to have owned the four parcels of land, including the land on which the Felda headquarters was once located.

Berita Harian first reported that the ownership of the land was transferred when Felda Investment Corporation appointed the company as its main developer.

It said that Felda was at risk of losing ownership of the land – located along Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, and estimated to be worth RM200 million, due to being transferred through an allegedly "dubious" means in 2015.

Following the exposé, it was reported that the value of the four land parcels could actually be worth four times more.

On Jan 5, former Felda chairperson Isa Samad had his statement recorded by Bukit Aman's Commercial Crime Department for several hours in relation to the deal.

The investigation was being conducted under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.