Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is trying to distract from his "infidelity" by accusing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of having almost RM4 billion in his bank account, said Najib's press secretary Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad.
Muhyiddin over the weekend said he almost fainted when former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail showed him proof that Najib had that much money in his bank account.
"He is a man who built his political career on a platform of religious piety.
"So how can he be a credible president of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's new party, when it's a matter of court record that he was for years committing infidelity with another man's wife?" Tengku Sariffuddin said in a press statement.
He was referring to a statutory declaration alleging that Muhyiddin committed adultery with a woman who is now going through a divorce proceeding.
Muhyiddin previously denied the claims as slander.
Tengku Sariffuddin said Najib's accounts were comprehensively investigated by multiple authorities and it was found no law was broken.
Najib has repeatedly denied abusing public funds while attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared him of wrongdoing over the RM2.6 billion and RM42 million from state firm SRC International found in his personal account.
Muhyiddin had last week claimed that RM1 billion was already in Najib’s bank account before the RM2.6 billion arrived, purportedly a political donation from the Saudi royal family.
Tengku Sariffuddin (photo) said: "Muhyiddin is a disappointed man after being used as Mahathir's puppet; bitter that he will never become prime minister as promised, because their attempt to unseat a democratically-elected leader failed; and angry that having lived by the sword he's now dying by it.
"Muhyiddin's disloyalty, and miscalculations driven by naked ambition, have led to his career ending in ignominy.
"He is now desperate - why should anyone believe anything he says?"
'Bankrupt of issues'
Earlier, cabinet minister Salleh Said Keruak said he believed that Muhyiddin is simply "bankrupt of issues".
“It appears like Muhyiddin is bankrupt of issues and that is why he needs to keep talking about the same old issue that is no longer of interest to most Malaysians.
“The fact remains that if the opposition does not harp on this same old issue then they really have nothing else to use,” said Salleh in a blog post today.
The communications and multimedia minister said Muhyiddin should by now realise that the 1MDB issue and matters concerning the donation are not instruments that can oust the prime minister.
“If they were, then Najib would have been out of office by now and BN would not have performed well in the recent Sarawak state election and the twin by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.
“When is Muhyiddin going to accept the fact that the matter of 1MDB and the donation from the Middle East have already been clarified more than once and is now a matter that is closed?”
Muhyiddin should instead focus on his new party (Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia) and prepare for the next general election, added Salleh.
This would also determine whether the new party’s anti-Najib propaganda has succeeded or not.
“As it stands now, we do not even know whether Muhyiddin can mobilise his forces for the next election and offer a credible challenge to Umno-BN,” he said.
