Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor contended that his reputation was jeopardised by Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s claims of rare earth element (REE) theft at Bukit Enggang, Sik, in Kedah.

In his reply to Saifuddin’s statement of defence against his defamation suit, Sanusi denied the minister’s contention that it was the plaintiff’s own poor governance of Kedah that dented his reputation rather than the defendant’s alleged defamatory public statements.

The Perikatan Nasional election director pointed out that his reputation...