KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has filed a suit against former Cabinet minister and Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) presidentTun Dr Ling Liong Sik for allegedly defaming him.

Datuk Seri Najib filed the suit on Oct 27 through Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, according to sources on Thursday (Oct 29).

Mr Najib is seeking for general, aggravated and exemplary damages.

On Wednesday, Dr Ling said he was "patiently waiting" for the legal suit from Mr Najib over remarks he had made against the Prime Minister. "I am still waiting. I'm a very patient man," Dr Ling had said.

The former transport minister also claimed that he was surprised as to why Mr Najib was taking a long time to file the suit.

Dr Ling had received a letter of demand from Mr Najib's legal team, which accused him of defamation.

The letter demanded that he retract and apologise over his statement made relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) earlier this month.

Dr Ling had made remarks in an article entitled "MCA's Liong Sik joins call for Najib's ouster for allegedly putting people's money in his own pocket" which were published in the Malay Mail online portal.

Dr Ling was quoted saying in the article that he agreed with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's demands for Mr Najib to resign, claiming that Mr Najib "has taken people's money and put it in his own personal accounts".

Dr Ling had said he would not back down from his call for Mr Najib to step down, and he was ready to defend himself in court.

He said he looked forward to seeing the Prime Minister take the witness stand.