Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it was MCA that had asked for the deputy prime minister position, after initially claiming that DAP had made the request.

"I was reported as saying that DAP had asked to have a second deputy prime minister.

"I wish to correct my mistake. It was not the DAP but it was the MCA," he said in a blog posting today.

Mahathir said the request was made by then MCA deputy secretary-general Loke Yuen Yow in 2009.

The former prime minister also furnished a report on the Malaysian Information Department website that had highlighted Loke's request to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.