Sarawak Report said the camp of the Prime Minister Najib Razak is in panic mode, frantically attempting to reverse the dwindling popularity of the leader of the Umno in the process.
The portal said according to their sources, the panic is obvious as it became clear opposition is getting stronger by the day.
And this has sent Najib on a frantic ringing tone asking everyone:Â ‘What to do?’
Panic Response?
With Mahathir telling the Guardian he supported Anwar Ibrahim’s release and would not oppose the latter being the next PM, the level of panic engendered in the circle around Najib appears to have been reflected in a rare personal statement made by the Prime Minister in direct response to the Guardian article.
In the response – published by local printed dailies as a victory statement – the Prime Minister in turn accused Dr Mahathir of panicking in response to his calling of a Royal Inquiry into the so-called Forex crisis over twenty years ago.
“This is widely viewed to be an attempt to deflect attention from Najib’s own present scandals around 1MDB, FELDA and Tabung Haji and to assert an equivalence between a scandalous foreign exchange trading debacle and the straight theft by the Prime Minister of billions of dollars, much of which ended up in his own bank accounts,” said Sarawak Report.
The portal said Najib’s retaliation has been accompanied by a flurry of supportive statements from key cheerleaders.
Minister, Salleh Said Keruak, immediately claimed that Mahathir was implying that judges were not to be trusted, threatening the veteran politician with jail for contempt. Deputy PM Zahid Hamidi has also come out to threaten Mahathir to ‘watch his mouth’.
Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi warned Mahathir to watch what he says about Najib Razak’s leadership, and advised the former PM to go and recite Islamic verses.