Ismail is suing Agenda Daily and its owner, Izwan Mohd Zubit, for its article titled “Ismail Sabri bimbang jadi PM paling singkat, ‘rayu’ jangan tarik sokongan”, saying it implied that he had begged his Perikatan Nasional (PN) allies for their continued support.

Lawyer Joshua Tan, representing Ismail, said the court wrote to parties last week to vacate today’s hearing.

“Today’s proceeding was converted into case management before deputy registrar Idamasliza Maarof, and July 25 was set to hear the injunction application,” he told FMT.

Tan said an ad interim injunction obtained by Ismail against Agenda Daily on March 4 will remain in force.

The ad interim injunction serves to temporarily protect the plaintiff (Ismail), who filed the application to preserve the status quo, pending the hearing of the interim injunction.

Lawyer Asiah Abdul Jalil represented Izwan, the owner of Agenda Daily Media Enterprise, a business enterprise that operates the news portal.

In his statement of claim, Ismail said the posting, in its ordinary meaning and by inference, meant that he was concerned about ending up as the prime minister with the shortest tenure in Malaysian history.

He said it was also implied that he was desperate to hold on to the office at any cost and was willing to “beg” a certain political party not to withdraw support for him.

He said the posting also gave the impression that he was concerned only about his position and did not care for the people.

He is seeking a permanent injunction, damages and an apology to be published in Agenda Daily and two other local papers.

Agenda Daily, in its defence, said it had practised responsible journalism and the report was not published with malicious intent.

It said the disputed statement must also be seen and interpreted contextually “and not in isolation from a reasonable man’s view”.

It is also relying on the defence of justification and fair comment.