Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should resign from his post for no longer having confidence in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's leadership, said Sabah assembly speaker Salleh Said Keruak.  

He wants Muhyiddin to do exactly what former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam ( photo ) did during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration.

"It is clear that his statement yesterday is a disguised vote of no confidence against the prime minister for allegedly keeping the entire country in the dark.

"The noble and honourable thing for Muhyiddin to do is, just like what Musa Hitam did, to resign to demonstrate that since he no longer has confidence in the prime minister, then based on principles he can no longer remain in the government," he said in his blog post today.

The former Sabah chief minister said Muhyiddin gave the impression that the cabinet and Umno supreme council members are kept in the dark on matters relating to 1MDB.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin had warned that Umno is suffering a perception crisis due to the 1MDB controversy.

Speaking at the Cheras Umno division annual general meeting, he had said that should the general elections be held soon, Umno will lose .

Muhyiddin, who described 1MDB as a " sovereign debt fund ", said he had advised Najib on multiple occassions on how to handle the matter but was ignored .

The Pagoh MP however emphasised that he has no intention to topple Najib, but just trying to help.

Paints a very bleak picture of PM

Salleh said Muhyiddin also gave the impression that he only obtained information from the newspapers.

"... further giving an impression that newspapers such as The Edge should not be suspended since it is a very valuable source of information for the government and if not because of these newspapers even the deputy prime minister would not know what is happening in the country," he added.

Salleh ( photo ) said it is not only a very mischievous statement meant to create the wrong impression but it also insinuates that the rest of the cabinet members are total idiots who do not know what is happening.

"What do they discuss at the weekly cabinet meetings, then, or do the cabinet members just go to sleep?

"Muhyiddin not only paints a very bleak picture of the prime minister but also that of the entire cabinet, the deputy prime minister included.

"Is Muhyiddin saying that those cabinet meetings that he personally chaired were also on the same basis? Is he saying that he is totally in the dark about the cabinet meetings that he himself chaired?" he asked.