DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng today questioned why PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang spent more than RM2.5 million in legal fees in his defamation suit against Sarawak Report, only to agree to a settlement.

The Kepong MP said it was even more curious since the trial date at London courts was just three months away – in April.

He said this following reports of Hadi’s decision to settle his defamation suit against Sarawak Report.

PAS filed the suit in the UK over an article on the whistle-blower site that accused PAS of receiving RM90 million from former prime minister Najib Razak, in the latter’s attempt to woo the Islamist party ahead of the last general election.

Other than both parties withdrawing their claims and no order being made as to costs, other terms of the settlement are kept secret.

Even the contentious article remains free to be posted in Sarawak Report, unaltered and not retracted, said Lim in a statement today.

“It does not make sense, especially given the seemingly outrageous claim of his party receiving RM90 million from the former disgraced prime minister.

“Were the allegations in the article nothing but the truth?”

Lim said he also wondered if Hadi and other PAS leaders dared to give a straightforward “yes” or “no” answer to his question.

He said the people and voters in PAS-ruled states Kelantan and Terengganu, their members, the Inland Revenue Department, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission all would be interested in the answer.

The DAP MP said he wanted to know what happened to the RM400,000 raised in crowdfunding last month to meet the cost of the legal suit.

“Did PAS manage to collect the whole sum?

Lim asked if Hadi would donate the balance of the money raised, if collected, to the needy in Kelantan and Terengganu.

“It would not be morally right for the party to keep it for themselves.”

Yesterday, Hadi offered to settle his defamation suit with Sarawak Report for undisclosed terms of settlement.

Hadi made the decision to finalise an out-of-court settlement via a consent order dated February 1 at the London high court of justice, his political secretary, Syahir Sulaiman, disclosed in a statement. – February 3, 2019.