Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has denied assertions made by three witnesses called by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar that he had planned to topple Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the Umno presidency post in 1998.

Testifying in his defamation suit against Khairy at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, he said the assertions were false and politically created following his sacking in 1998.

“There was no (Umno) party election in 1998. The party supreme council had then decided there is no contest for the post of president and deputy president.