COMMENT Prior to even Najib Abdul Razak assuming the prime minister's position in April 2009, his wife had been glittering in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

She has been accused of numerous things, including meddling in government affairs. The entire list is too long to mention and flirts with the danger of a lawsuit.

Rosmah, who hails from Negeri Sembilan, is the second wife of Najib, whom she married in 1987. The couple has two children.

Critics have claimed that she is a spendthrift with a penchant for luxury brands and jewellery, and this made international news in the form of a recent article in the New York Times .

The report also mentioned Rosmah's son Riza Aziz from her first marriage, who went from a junior-level bank officer to Hollywood movie producer.

Riza has since purchased a US$33.5 million (RM117.5 million) apartment in New York and a house in Beverly Hills worth at least US$17.5 million (RM61.5 million).

The Prime Minister's Office then courted further controversy when it attributed Najib and his family's lavish spending to inheritance.

This prompted Najib's brothers to issue a statement expressing concern that their father's reputation is being tainted as the late Abdul Razak Hussein was a frugal man.

There were reports of a rift among the siblings , and Rosmah was cited as the cause. But this was denied.  

One of her earlier controversies concerned a RM24.4 million diamond ring, which the opposition claimed she purchased, but this was later proven otherwise.

And strangely, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Abu Kassim Mohamed ( left ) cited Rosmah as an example of how the graft watchdog does not fear baring its fangs.  

He revealed how the commission launched a probe immediately after a report was lodged on the matter.

"I am telling you that we even probed the prime minister's wife, do you still think that we have anything to fear?" Abdu Kassim had said.

So in other words, the test of gumption for investigative bodies in Malaysia at the moment happens to be Rosmah.

Soon after this revelation, a DAP lawmaker wondered if MACC had probed her collection of expensive handbags and the fortune amassed by her son.

Whether or not Abu Kassim intended to use Rosmah as the hallmark of bravado, the undeniable fact is that Najib has a unique problem, unlike his predecessors.

Those before him never had to deal, deflect or defend the criticisms against their wives.

Even in his ongoing spat with Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( right ), there have been those who took potshots at Rosmah.

For example, veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin, who in arguing that Muhyiddin Yassin should be the one to succeed Najib if the latter steps down, pointed out that among the qualities the current number two possesses is that his wife is liked by all .

He also noted that former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not have an ambitious wife.

So far Mahathir has refrained from walking down that road. But some believe that it is only a matter of time.