Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi must have some basis for claiming an Umno insider plot to topple the government, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

"To me, (Zahid) must have done so because he has basis (to believe so)," Salleh said at a press conference after the 'Kayuhan Sehati Sejiwa' event in Kuala Lumpur today.

Malaysia is a democratic country, he added, therefore any change in government should be done through general elections.

"Since our independence day, we in Malaysia have always practised the concept of one vote for every free person," he said.

As such, he argued the current ruling government has received the people’s "mandate" to carry out its policies and vision.

He also said the people need to remember that as a free country, we are the ones who decide our own future.

Hence, the people should not be influenced by any foreign media, he stressed, referring to whistleblower site Sarawak Report which is based in London.

He was responding to Zahid’s claim yesterday that he could “smell” a plot spearheaded by an Umno leader to “topple” Najib’s government with the aid of opposition MPs.

Umno has been rocked by its worst infighting in decades since the growing 1MDB scandal led to the ousting of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and cabinet minister Shafie Apdal.