Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is not too pleased with the bad publicity in the US media ahead of his visit to the White House.

Najib, in a blog posting today, said Malaysia had a strong record of democracy and free speech.

"In recent weeks, however, it appears the political opposition does not share that respect for our tradition of democracy.

"They and their allies have sought to blacken our country’s name in the American media, making a series of wild claims, culminating in the false claim that Malaysia is in danger of sliding into dictatorship," he said.

Najib did not mention names but appeared to be referring to an opinion piece by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial board.

"Any embarrassment is better than giving a scandal-tainted leader a White House photo-op.

“So why is President Trump bestowing this honour on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who jailed an opposition leader and is a suspect in a corruption scandal that spans the globe?” it said in an article published on Sept 6.

The WSJ, which had reported extensively about the 1MDB scandal, also warned about Malaysia's possible slide into dictatorship.

Najib in his comment piece directed accusations of dictatorship at the opposition coalition, referring to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is part of its leadership.

"There is an irony here, in that one of the opposition’s leaders – it is still not clear who is the actual leader – has admitted that he was a 'dictator' during his 22 years in power.

"And it is true that when he was prime minister, hundreds of people were summarily locked up under the Internal Security Act.

"Newspapers, including a major national daily, were closed. The judiciary was attacked. Crony capitalism was rife, with deals made that significantly burden the people today.

"People had no right to demonstrate, and students were not allowed to participate in politics," said Najib.

In contrast, Najib said the government under him had repealed the Internal Security Act and emergency ordinances as well as doing away with the need of renewing publishing licences and introducing the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

Najib said the opposition had tried to make out in the American press that government critics were routinely imprisoned despite the presence of vigorous debate and much criticism against the government on news portals.

"The truth is that this government upholds democracy. We uphold free speech. And we uphold the rule of law. Our record is clear, as is the enhancement of the people’s freedoms under this administration.

"The opposition’s ability to argue against us so openly and vigorously is proof of the increased freedom Malaysians have. They opposition are welcome to do so, and they do indeed do so, as Malaysians know from regular reports on both traditional and new media.

"But falsely running down Malaysia’s vibrant democracy and spreading smears and falsehoods about this Government in foreign newspapers just for political gain is another matter.

"That does not show pride in what we have achieved. Nor does it demonstrate love of our country," he said.

Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, in an opinion piece on Sept 3, said US president Donald Trump hosting Najib marked another setback for the rule of law.

Anti-corruption NGO Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) founder Cynthia Gabriel, in an opinion piece also in the Washington Post, had described the US' invitation to Najib as a "terrible idea".

The US Department of Justice is investigating the alleged misappropriation of US$4.5 billion from 1MDB which was purportedly used to acquire assets in the US.

The DOJ is seeking to forfeit these assets but the move was suspended pending a parallel criminal investigation.

Najib will be arriving in the US tomorrow for a three-day visit.