SOME Malaysian politicians are unsure what to think of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Opponents who have given tacit backing to a national campaign in support of the Prime Minister responded testily this week to the appearance on their parliamentary tables of car stickers bearing a portrait of the nation's leader and the words 'We support Dr Mahathir'.
Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party and parliamentary Leader of the Opposition, demanded to know who had printed the stickers.
The Deputy Speaker, Ong Tee Keat, said he did not know who had distributed them but the action was not against standing orders.
The campaign of acclaim for Dr Mahathir is aimed at demonstrating national solidarity against overseas publications and commentators who have suggested the Prime Minister should resign following his emotional outbursts against foreign 'currency manipulators', whom he held responsible for sharp falls in the value of the Malaysian dollar and share prices.
The opposition went along with the campaign out of apparent concern that political stability needed to be preserved in a time of economic crisis. But its tolerance has been tested by the intensity of the campaign and the manner in which it is being conducted.