The appointment of Muhammad Ibrahim as the new Bank Negara Malaysia governor has once again exposed The Wall Street Journal's "lies and total disregard for facts" in its reporting on Malaysia, charged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's press aide.
"WSJ reported as fact multiple times, including by Ken Brown on April 20 and Tom Wright on March 11, that the prime minister appointed Irwan Serigar Abdullah to be the new governor and that he was linked to 1MDB.
"This was despite no announcement having been made, and based on anonymous sources," added Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad in a media statement.
He pointed out that Putrajaya had today named current deputy governor Muhammad Ibrahim as the new governor to replace Zeti Akthar Aziz, who has retired.
Muhmammad Ibrahim would assume his duties starting May 1.
Meanwhile, Tengku Sharifuddin said many believe WSJ's reports concerning Malaysia, while remaining oblivious to the real situation.
"They don't realise that WSJ are allowing themselves to be used as the willing vehicle of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's anti-Najib campaign just for the sake of sensational headlines," he added.
The press secretary also pointed out that the basic duty of any journalist is to check the facts, especially if the allegations are serious and from political opponents.
"But WSJ continue to report anonymously sourced lies as facts. They are a disgrace to journalism. As today proved again, Malaysians can't believe anything they say," he added.
Last July, WSJ published documents purportedly from Malaysian investigators showing the RM2.6 billion and RM42 million deposited into the prime minister's personal bank accounts.
Since then, it published a series of articles linking the funds to 1MDB, which are often cited by Mahathir and the prime minister's critics in pushing for Najib's removal.
The publication was recently nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage on the issue but did not win the coveted award.
Najib has repeatedly denied abusing public funds for personal gain, claiming that the RM2.6 billion was a political donation from a Saudi royalty.
Recently, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said his country was aware of the donation and that it was given with no strings attached.
Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had also cleared Najib of any wrongdoing.
As for Mahathir, Najib's camp has accused the former prime minister of attempting to engineer his son Mukhriz's political ascension. -Mkini
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