Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan has admitted that the public backlash against recent decisions by the prosecution to discontinue film producer Riza Abdul Aziz and former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman's court cases has the potential to paint the Perikatan Nasional administration in a bad light.

"Notwithstanding the merits or mitigating factors of specific cases, for example, the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong (ICAC) investigation with Musa, I'm not under any illusions that on the face of it, it doesn't help our image vis-à-vis the perception of democratic deficit,’’ he told the Malay Mail in an interview.