KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — The High Court has suggested that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad undergo mediation first to settle their defamation suits against each other, Malaysiakini reported today.

Zahid’s lawyer Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman told the news portal that the mediation idea was made when his client’s suit against Dr Mahathir was raised during case management today.

The news portal reported that Dr Mahathir’s lawyer Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi confirmed the same.

Zahid filed his suit against Dr Mahathir in April last year.

The Umno president is demanding an apology and compensation over remarks that he allegedly went to meet Dr Mahathir to discuss his court case prior to the latter’s reappointment as prime minister in 2018.

Dr Mahathir then filed his defamation suit against Zahid last August, claiming the latter made a derogatory remark against his ancestry during a speech at the Kelana Jaya Umno division meeting back in 2017.

Malaysiakini did not report if either side are agreeable to the court suggestion or otherwise.

The next time the two cases will be managed in the High Court is on July 14, the news portal reported.