Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has conceded that his defamation lawsuit against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was a tit-for-tat move after the latter sued the former for defamation.

Mahathir was referring to why he sued Zahid for defamation over an allegation of an identity card bearing the name “Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”.

Zahid is suing Mahathir, 99, over an allegation that the former tried...