Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor led a "lavish" lifestyle was not reported by all Bahasa Malaysia dailies and most English dailies.

It was only reported by English daily The Sun and Chinese newspapers.

Since April 2, Mahathir has renewed calls for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to step down, on grounds that he is bogged down by many allegations.

This includes the motive behind the Altantuya Shariibuu murder, the role of Jho Low in 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the purchase of a new luxurious government jet and the source of Najib's wealth.

Yesterday, Mahathir remarked that there were many things about Najib's personal behavior that was "not right".

"But I was prepared to overlook them, including he and his wife's lavish lifestyle ," he said in a blog on his website chedet.cc .

It is believed that this is the first time a major figure from the ruling party that has admitted that Najib and Rosmah indulges in luxury and that this had created an image problem.