KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic) has claimed that the five meetings he had with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad between 2018 and 2020 were to discuss the political turmoil in the country and not to gain favours regarding the Umno president's court cases.

       Ahmad Zahid said this in his reply to Dr Mahathir's statement of defence in a lawsuit he initiated against the former prime minister over alleged defamatory remarks Dr Mahathir made at a Pejuang event.

       In his reply, Ahmad Zahid said there were two meetings with Dr Mahathir in June and September 2018, and three meetings in February 2020.

       He said the meeting on June 7, 2018 at Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana was in conjunction with Ramadan whereby he had shared about the meeting with the defendant (Dr Mahathir) on his social media accounts.

       "At this meeting, the defendant had suggested and urged the plaintiff to dissolve Umno and bring its members into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia," Ahmad Zahid said.

       The Bagan Datuk MP further contended that for the meeting on Sept 13, 2018, he was joined by other Umno supreme council members such as Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Seri Mahadzir Khalid.

       In this meeting, Ahmad Zahid said they had discussed the possibility of cooperation between Umno and Bersatu and Dr Mahathir once again urged the plaintiff to dissolve Umno and bring its members into Bersatu.

       Ahmad Zahid said it was impossible for him to have brought up his court cases to the defendant because as of Sept 13, 2018, he had not been charged in court and was only called to assist in investigations.

       For the meetings on Feb 23, Feb 24 and Feb 25, 2020, Ahmad Zahid said he was joined by other politicians such as Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, also on political matters which included the aftermath of the defendant resigning as the 7th prime minister and talks of a unity government.

       "The defendant's statements in his defence were merely baseless allegations. It is speculative and self-serving in nature," Ahmad Zahid said.

       Ahmad Zahid filed the defamation lawsuit against Dr Mahathir on April 20 through Messrs Shahrul Hamidi & Haziq.

       In his statement of claim, Ahmad Zahid claimed that Dr Mahathir had defamed him by alleging that he had met with him (Dr Mahathir) to seek help with court cases.

       Ahmad Zahid has two ongoing cases in Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur.

       According to the court document, Dr Mahathir uttered the allegedly defamatory statements at a Pejuang event in connection with the Johor state election at Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana in Putrajaya on Feb 23.

       It was alleged that Dr Mahathir claimed Ahmad Zahid had come to his home with two or three others just after the 14th General Election, before the nonagenarian became prime minister for the second time.

       "The plaintiff pleads that the defendant had uttered the defamatory statements with malice and placed the plaintiff in a public scandal, therefore inciting hate from the public against the plaintiff," the document stated.

       Ahmad Zahid said the malicious statements were untrue, unwarranted, unsubstantiated and mischievous.

       Ahmad Zahid further said the alleged statements were meant to say that he was a person who could use "shortcuts" to resolve his ongoing criminal cases, that he was a dishonest and untruthful person, and that he had sought the help of the prime minister to interfere with his ongoing court cases, among others.

       According to lawyer Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi, Dr Mahathir stood by his remarks that Ahmad Zahid sought his help to “drop” his corruption cases.

       He also said they would contest the defamation suit.

       The lawsuit has been fixed for an inter-parte injunction hearing before the High Court on July 5.