“However, this process should take place in Cabinet as part of the decision-making process”, the Prime Minister said in a television announcement.
“Nonetheless, we appreciate Bronze Sri Muhyiddin for commitment and all his function to the authorities and country, as I do all those ministers who are nolonger within the case”.
Sacked Malaysian deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday appealed for calm and unity among his supporters.
Mr Najib greeted Mr Cameron with a handshake as they met on the steps of the grand Prime Minister’s Office building in the administrative centre Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian premier is under mounting pressure over leaked confidential documents that allegedly show some Dollars 700 million were transferred into his personal accounts from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund, which he set up in 2009.
But Mr Cameron insisted the best approach to tackling corruption was not “turning away” from the issue.
Mr. Najib’s new deputy premier, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, suspended the publications for three months because the extensive reporting on 1MDB was deemed to be “prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order”.
The Malaysian Insider quoted him saying: “I told him to let go of his post in 1MDB, but he didn’t want to listen…I don’t have any evil intention, my will is to help him”.
Here, Muhyiddin related how Najib seemed to have a hard time telling him how he was not included in the new Cabinet line-up, and how the matter was conveyed in very few words.
Muhyiddin was asked to comment on several pressing matters at a special media conference held at his home in Bukit Damansara here earlier today.
Apart from the reshuffle, Najib’s government also announced that Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail, who had led investigations into 1MDB, had been replaced by Mohamed Apandi Ali.
Muhyiddin said in a statement Tuesday that he respects Najib’s right to decide his cabinet.
The hasty top-level reshuffle by Malaysia’s embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak in the wake of a corruption scandal will do little to encourage foreign investment amid an already tense political backdrop and a sustained currency crisis, analysts warn.
Mr. Najib, who founded the fund in 2009 and is chairman of its advisory board, has denied taking any money for personal gain.
“During my service I supported all the government’s initiatives and the prime minister’s leadership except on the issue of 1MDB, where I have my own principles and stance in defense of Malaysians, the party’s reputation and national interests”, he said.
Muhyiddin said he slept well although he had a late night activity given the streams of visitors to his house.
He said he believed that the new Cabinet would drive forward the government’s ability to deliver on the promises made to the people in the last general election, in 2013.
Legal activist group Lawyers for Liberty said removing the attorney-general “is shocking to say the least, and can only fuel public suspicion of interference” in the investigations.
