Several mainstream newspapers have blacked out the recent statement by the four brothers of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak regarding their late father’s alleged wealth, further highlighting speculation of a rift in the premier’s family.

 

Checks by  Malaysiakini  has found that the statement was not carried in the Wenesday and Thursday print editions of  Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, New Straits Times and  The Star .

 

It was instead carried mainly by the Chinese vernacular papers, such as Sinchew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau  and the China Press.

 

Interestingly, a news report on the statement did appear on  The Star ’s online edition on Tuesday night, although it did not make it to print version.

 

In the statement, the four brothers Nazir ( above ), Johari, Nizam, and Nazim Razak expressed  concern  over speculation on the wealth of their late father, Malaysia’s second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein.

 

Speculation arose after the Prime Minister’s Office told the New York Times  that Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor’s lavish lifestyle was not unusual "... for a person of the prime minister’s position, responsibilities and legacy (of) family assets”.

 

Razak’s name threatened

In their joint statement, the brothers said: ‘We wish to put on record that Abdul Razak was a highly-principled man, well known to all who knew him for his frugality and utmost integrity and any statement or inference to the contrary would be totally false and misleading to his memory and to his service and sacrifices for the nation.​

 

‘We take issue with anyone who taints his memory, whatever the motive. We would also like to add that our whole family is united on this issue.”

 

Nazir had sent the statement via e-mail to the The Star, Utusan Malaysia, Sin Chew Daily, The Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini, The Edge, New Straits Times , and Media Prima at 8.26pm on Tuesday.

 

Lamenting the media blackout, the pro-Mahathir blogger ‘Jelapang’ lamented that no Umno-affiliated media would clear Abdul Razak’s  name.

 

“Sad, because not one Umno-owned media yesterday and today would publish the explanation made by the children of the late Tun Abdul Razak to ensure that their father’s name, a great statesman, is not tainted.

 

"Jelapang does not want to comment on what is implied by the statement. What they did was only to explain that the late Tun Abdul Razak was a principled and frugal leader with integrity,” he wrote in his blog yesterday.

 

Another pro-Mahathir blogger, ‘Apanama’ published the four brothers’ statement in full, along with a part of an online news report on the statement.