SHAH ALAM, Feb 14 – Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar wants to sue PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu and four others over an allegedly defamatory article published in Harakahdaily, the PAS official organ.
He said the decision was made as the five parties have yet to respond to a notice of claim dated Feb 7 sent to them eventhough the deadline expires tomorrow.
“The four other parties are PAS, printer Angkatan Edaran Sdn Bhd, chief editor Lutfi Othman and article writer Aziz Muda,” he told a press conference at his residence here today.
In a report titled “Wah Ahmad cannot be trusted” dated Feb 1-3, Mohamad Sabu demanded Wan Ahmad’s immediate resignation to restore public confidence in the EC claiming that he could not be trusted. Mohamad Sabu among others claimed that Wan Ahmad and several individuals gave citizenship to foreigners via what he claimed as “Project IC” in Sabah to ensure a Barisan Nasional (BN) win in the general election.
Wan Ahmad said the allegations made by news reports are baseless, serious and malicious aimed at destroying his reputation and image. It also sought to discredit and degrade his dignity and credibility as deputy chairman of EC, an independent body with good public image.
Following the news reports, many followers of alternative media and blogs posted defamatory comments and views on him. He vehemently denied Mohamad Sabu’s allegation that he was involved with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in granting citizenship to foreigners in Sabah to help BN win the election.
Wan Ahmad said that he served as Minister Counsellor at the Malaysian Embassy in Washington DC, United States during that time and the “statement could be interpreted that I orchestrated a conspiracy to ensure BN win the
election. ”
“I never worked in Sabah during my career. As such, how could Mat Sabu accuse me of being involved (in granting of citizenship to foreigners in Sabah),” said Wan Ahmad who joined the EC as secretary in 1998.
He said the individual named ‘Wan Ahmad’ who Mat Sabu claimed was not him but a former Sabah EC officer named Wan Ahmad Wan Yusof.
“That other Wan Ahmad had since died. That Wan Ahmad is not me.” The law firm Hafarizam Wan and Aisha Mubarak had sent a court notice demanding Mohamad Sabu and four others to make an unconditional apology andretract the news report within seven days starting Feb 7.
Asked about the amount of damages claimed, Wan Ahmad said that he was leaving the matter to the court. Wan Ahmad who became EC deputy chairman in Dec 2004 said that he did not receive any response from the five parties concerned.
“From my experience, they never apologised for making mistakes.”
