Marzuki Yahya, who served as deputy foreign minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan government, said Hadi’s remarks were “improper” more so when he was a member of a government that was not chosen by the people.

Hadi, who is Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle East, had said having a new president in the White House was meaningless for Muslim countries as President Joe Biden will continue with Zionist-influenced policies.

He had also said the only difference between Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump was Biden’s softer and more diplomatic approach.

Hadi’s comments were a stark contrast to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s congratulatory message to Biden where he expressed Malaysia’s desire to strengthen ties with the US.

Speaking to FMT, Marzuki said: “It’s not right, we have a foreign policy, we must be on good terms with all countries, we cannot criticise foreign democracies. Biden was chosen by Americans while the present government in Malaysia was not. A government that is not chosen by the people does not know how to respect democracy.”

Marzuki said Hadi, as a special envoy with ministerial status, should be more diplomatic.

He said Hadi’s remarks could be seen as an attempt to disrupt bilateral ties between Malaysia and the US, and that a principle of Malaysia’s foreign policy was to resolve any disputes through negotiations rather than open arguments.

Marzuki said Malaysia always held to the principle of non-intervention in another country’s domestic affairs.