Anwar in marathon retweets of posts praising him, attacking critics and condemning Trump, Musk

A series of retweets by Anwar Ibrahim of X posts peppered with crude terminology usually used by cybertroopers in their attacks on political opponents has prompted some in his party to wonder whether the prime minister has now taken it upon himself to go after critics by endorsing personal attacks.

One PKR MP said Anwar's behaviour on the social media platform was "out of ordinary", adding that he hoped the prime minister's communications team was aware of the consequences of endorsing posts with undiplomatic language.

"But then again, it must be an indication that our president is fed up and frustrated with his PR team for failing to effectively rebut critics," said the politician from a southern state, who requested anonymity.

A quick look at the prime minister's X account yesterday showed scores of posts on everything from the Gaza conflict, American celebrities to posts praising him and taking potshots at domestic critics were retweeted to his 1.9 million followers.

Some of his retweets were content by US users intended for the American public, including one from a staunch critic of Donald Trump who praised Hollywood stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for standing up to the incoming president.

Then there were retweets of posts condemning X owner Elon Musk, whom Anwar had tried to persuade to set up factories in Malaysia, although the US billionaire decided not to do so despite special incentives dangled by Putrajaya to his company Starlink.

"Elon Musk suspended the account of the terrorist from the Christmas market in Germany on X. Later, the account was restored, but all history and posts supporting Netanyahu, Israel, and attacking Islam were deleted," reads one of posts retweeted by Anwar, which refers to the terrorist attack by a pro-Israeli Saudi man that killed five people and injured more than 200.

What comes as striking to political observers, however, is that Anwar also retweeted posts praising himself as well as personal attacks against his critics.

"If you put Ambiga as PM, and Latheefa Koya as DPM running on Muda’s ticket, all reforms will be carried out, Malaysia’s economic fundamentals would be strengthened and people’s livelihoods would improve by two folds. Don’t talk, walk," reads one of many posts Anwar retweeted, taking a jibe at former Bersih 2.0 chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan and former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Latheefa Koya - both of whom have recently come out strongly against Anwar's government for failing to implement promised reforms.

Last night, he also retweeted a post showing an animation of a hand making the heart gesture, as well as several other posts describing him as a reformer and man of the people.

Anwar also endorsed posts attacking his fiercest critics, PAS and elderly leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad, all of which were laced with derogatory language, such as "walaun", a term meant as an insult to supporters of the Islamic party.

At one point, he even reposted random replies from X users, even if they only contained emojis.

Anwar's marathon retweets of X posts come amid a series of events that have snowballed criticism against his two-year-old coalition government.

These include recent moves to amend laws aimed at stifling online criticism and the exoneration of his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi after the government decided to back down from appealing his acquittal on corruption charges.

The prime minister has come under fire recently after admitting that he was consulted on the appointment of Musa Aman as the new governor of Sabah despite the former chief minister's history of being slapped with multiple corruption charges, while at the same time avoiding comments over a royal directive to allow Najib Razak serve his prison sentence under house detention as part of a royal pardon granted to the jailed leader.

On Saturday, Anwar further courted controversy after he suggested that some high-profile prosecutions in 2018 were "rushed" and tainted by "venom and enmity", responding to the court's decision to acquit Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor of money laundering and tax evasion charges involving RM7 million deposited into her bank account.