Najib admits the daggers are out for him, Rosmah just the victim

Prime Minister Najib Razak has broken his silence on the firestorm created by news of his wife's latest shopping spree in Sydney, where she allegedly swept up 61 piece of clothing items from a top-notch boutique worth about RM323,000.

"It was a wildly exaggerated story deliberately fabricated to affect people's perception of their leaders," Najib said on his Twitter on Wednesday.

Najib confirms daggers are out for him

Critics have accused the 60-year-old Rosmah Mansor of being political 'poison' for her 58-year-old husband, who is fighting hard to stave off an ouster both from inside and outside his Umno party.

She is unpopular and an easy target due to her aggressive and brash ways. While well-educated and strong-willed, her penchant for the high and expensive lifestyle has been her Achilles heel. That Najib assigned to her a lot of discretionary power, especially over huge business deals, has also created more enemies for her, with many corporate captains complaining in private of her demanding ways.

"I have said it before and I will say it again. It is time Najib controls her. He must bring her to heel. She is upsetting people and they are poking all sorts of fire to get at him. But in the end, it is Malaysia which gets the bad name. Nowadays, do you know people look for Imelda Rosmah, and they say she is from Malaysia. Is this good or bad?" Zuraida Kamaruddin, the PKR Women's chief, told Malaysia Chronicle.

Backstabbers from Umno

PKR leaders also rubbished Najib's comments as targeting the opposition, pointing out he could be referring to his peers within Umno.

Indeed, the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar is gaining ground each day, but the greater danger to Najib lies within Umno, where his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and former premier Mahathir Mohamad are believed to be plotting to unseat him.

Speculation has swirled that the powerful Mahathir may team up with either Muhyiddin or Najib's own cousin Hishammuddin Hussein to wrest the Umno presidency from Najib. Mahathir is keen for his son Mukhriz to take over from either of these men after they have spent a term in office.

By convention, the Umno president is the prime minister it is the largest party in the ruling BN coalition. However, this applies only if BN wins the 13th general election, widely expected to be held soon.

"From what we read, it s obvious the leaks are from someone with very close information about Rosmah's personal schedule. That can only mean an inside Umno job," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Who lied - Rosmah, the designer or the journalist

The latest scandal erupted last month after an Australian fashion writer spilled the beans on Rosmah's shopping trip. The designer, whose boutique Rosmah had shopped in, later on issued a clarification that did not in any way amount to a denial.

Carl Kapp only insisted he never mentioned the sum AUD100,000 or RM323,000 but did not say if it was true Rosmah spent such an amount. He also confirmed the shopping spree but denied he was coming to Kuala Lumpur to take a special order soon.

Hot on the heels of that clarification, Australian fashion journalist Patty Huntington disclosed in detail in her blog several email exchanges between herself and Kapp, in a bid to defend the veracity of her original article that sparked the brouhaha.

That prompted Malaysians to again wonder if Rosmah had tried to cover up the matter by persuading Kapp to soften his comments to Patty.

Rosmah, a former banker, is no stranger to controversy. She has denied buying a US$24 million diamond ring, but till now the details provided by the Customs and Excise department are hazy and most Malaysians believe the speculation is true.

Her husband's administration is the weakest so far in post-independence Malaysia. Not only is racism and religious bigotry at an all time high due to intentional race-championing to garner votes, free-for-all corruption has broken out as Najib and his party mates rush for a last grab at national goodies before the GE-13, which could see their party booted out from power - the first time since 1957.

Malaysia Chronicle