Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has questioned the silence among Pakatan Harapan leaders over the Federal Court's ruling earlier today that the federal and state governments can sue individuals for defamation.

In a Facebook post today, Najib said that if such a ruling had been made during his administration, activists, NGOs and the then-opposition Harapan would have dubbed the move draconian, unfair, dangerous, and against democracy and freedom of speech.

"In fact, I would have been blamed, when it is the court's ruling.

"However, thus far, not a single Harapan leader has commented about today's ruling, which has a big impact.

"This is because the government has huge funds and legal power to sue for defamation, any individual who does not have such facilities at their disposal, to defend themselves," Najib wrote.

He further noted that in countries like the US, United Kingdom, and Australia, laws do not allow their respective governments to sue their citizens.

"Therefore, today's ruling may provide a big enough room for Harapan to threaten the freedom of speech, and the rights to criticize, either the federal, or state governments."

In the ruling earlier today, a five-member bench led by Court of Appeal president Ahmad Ma'arop ruled that in Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen's appeal for his case against the Sarawak government, the Derbyshire principle is not applicable as there are existing laws available, including the Government Proceedings Act 1956 (GPA).

The government has a reputation, the court said, which it could protect via defamation suits.

The common law Derbyshire principle, which forbids public authorities from taking legal actions for defamation, had previously been enforced twice by the Court of Appeal, when striking out suits by former Pahang menteri besar Adnan Yaakob and former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng against the media.