KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian government said Tuesday that a United Nations award to be given to Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was deferred following allegations made by some western media.
A spokesman of Najib said the Prime Minister and his wife had received a letter from Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, which stated that Rosmah would be given a special tribute award at an event co-hosted by UNESCO this month.
The award was in recognition of efforts undertaken by the Malaysian government to counter extremism through the educational system, and specifically the approach taken by Permata, a children education program founded by Rosmah in 2007, the spokesman said.
However, the organizing committee of the tribute later informed the Malaysian government that the award would be deferred to 2017 due to the "interventions" from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times regarding the funding of Permata.
The spokesman said the program was wholly funded by the Malaysian government and its expenditures were in accordance with government financial procedures, criticizing the allegations made in the reports were "smears and insinuations" of a "politically-motivated campaign".
Neither Permata, Rosmah nor the Malaysian government has ever applied for the award, the spokesman said, adding that the proposed deferred award have been declined to avoid any further distraction.
Najib has been under constant criticisms by some western media since last year, including allegations of large funding went in to the Prime Minister's personal accounts.
Malaysian government responded that the fund was legal donations from the Middle East and an official investigation has cleared Najib of any wrongdoing.
