UMNO IN CRISIS: Najib chickens out of sacking Muhyiddin, Dr M camp now has upper hand

KUALA LUMPUR - It looks like Prime Minister Najib Razak has 'chickened out' of a plan to sack his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and replace him with Zahid Hamidi, the current Home Minister.

Perhaps, sensing the axe about to be wielded on him and his supporters, Muhyiddin had made an extraordinary no-holds-barred speech on Sunday night, where he demanded that the Auditor-General's report on Najib's scandal-tainted sovereign fund 1MDB be made public.

Muhyiddin also advised Najib to come clean on allegations that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB-linked funds had been chanelled to the PM's personal bank accounts.

"The news out in Umno was that Najib was to announce dropping Muhyiddin today but it looks like he has chickened out and this shows Muhyiddin has the upperhand," a political source told Malaysia Chronicle.

Be patient, Muhyiddin

Muhyiddin had made his controversial speech at the Cheras Umno division meeting last night

Indeed, there are fears down the Umno line that dropping Muhyiddin as DPM will trigger an irreparable rift that could quicken Najib's own ouster.

Najib has not made any comment on Muhyiddin's speech although the two had met earlier on Sunday at the Raya open house of former premier Abdullah Badawi.

However, this afternoon, Najib's office issued an unusual statement calling on the DPM to be patient and wait for the outcome of an ongoing probe on 1MDB.

"Everyone, especially members of administration including DPM Muhyiddin, should wait for the outcome of probe into 1MDB issue," said the Prime Minister's Office in a one-paragraph statement, according to Bernama.

PMO statement 'insulting' to Muhyiddin, Najib may still sack him to save himself from being arrested

The PMO's statement is unlikely to stop the bitter clash between the two men as Najib is not only fighting for political survival but also to stay out of jail, where he could be sent if found guilty of criminal breach of trust in the 1MDB financial debacle.

Muhyiddin and Najib in better times

Some in the Muhyiddin camp have ridiculed the statement from the PMO, claiming it insulted the DPM by suggesting he was 'hungry for power'.

"Some political night owls told me that Najib will be arrested soon. Again this has never happened before in this country where the Police issued an arrest warrant against a sitting PM, but it’s not something that we can rule out," said former Umno minister Zaid Ibrahim.

'If Najib did receive cash from the Cayman Islands, Singapore and elsewhere as alleged, then there are many criminal charges that could be levied against him."

Arresting Najib however, would require action from the police, who currently come under the jurisdiction of Zahid's Home Ministry.

The 1MDB is a sovereign wealth fund created by Najib in 2009 but is now laden with billions of debt, and as Muhyddin had said in his speech, it has become a 'debt' fund, capable of damaging Malaysia and jeopardising Umno's chances of winning the next general election.

Some Umno watchers believe Najib may still sack Muhyiddin and is waiting for the Wednesday Cabinet meeting to make his final call. Some think Najib, fearful of backlash, might take his grouse with Muhyiddin to the Umno supreme council meeting this Friday.

"Sacking Muhyiddin will be a disaster and trigger an internal Umno revolt but Najib may have no choice. He has too much to lose," said the source.

Abuse of power Zahid & the Dr M factor

Zahid and the still powerful Mahathir, who has called for Muhyiddin to replace Najib

Topping the list to replace Muhyiddin as DPM is Zahid Hamidi, who has stuck his neck out for Najib by suspending The Edge daily and weekly publications in an apparent bid to cripple more exposes on 1MDB from being made.

Zahid, who is also in charge of the police, has also been taken to task for not arresting suspects in the 1MDB case, but instead has issued travel bans on Opposition politicians on the grounds they were trying to overthrow the government by making false 1MDB accusations against Najib.

This had delayed and confused a special task force probe on the 1MDB debacle, even intimidating the panel of high-level civil servants taking helm of the probe. The multi-agency panel consists of Attorney General Gani Patail, Bank Negara governor Zeti Aziz, MACC chief Abu Kassim and IGP Khalid Bakar.

Najib also needs Zahid's support as any move to arrest him or other 1MDB bigwigs would require police action.

"This is a critical week and how the 2 big boys Najib and Muhyiddin move, with Mahathir in the wings will determine how long the political crisis in Malaysia will be prolonged. For sure, there is no quick resolution, but the fallout can be contained if Najib is contained," said the source, referring to Najib's chief critic & ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad. - Malaysia Chronicle