Muhyiddin Yassin was suspended as Umno deputy president because he did not perform his duties according to the party constitution, said party information chief Annuar Musa.

According to a provision in the party constitution, the duties of the deputy president is to help the president, Annuar said, and the party cannot function smoothly if someone does not perform their duties.

Muhyiddin, he explained, did not perform his duties in helping the president, as laid out in the Umno constitution.

"For us, this (suspension) is a decision we were forced to make, because as a party, we have to have discipline, collective responsibility, and also we need to obey the constitution," he told reporters after the Umno supreme council meeting at the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur today, where the decision was reached.

He further elaborated that while the decision was not easy, it was done in accordance to the party constitution and in view of the coming elections.

Suspending Muhyiddin would also let the party focus on doing their duty to the rakyat as they work towards the next general elections, Annuar added.

Not an Umno first

"How to work when there is someone who is not doing their duties? It is because we want to continue doing our duty towards the rakyat as we're facing the elections, that is why we had to make this difficult decision," he said.

He also pointed out that this is not the first time the party has made this kind of decision.

"The same decision was made in 1998 by (then party president) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and the same decision again in 2008 where (current party president) Najib Abdul Razak, as the vice-president, took over the duties of the deputy," he noted.

Party vice-president Hishamuddin Hussein, who chaired the meeting today, also said this decision by the supreme council was made in line with the view of moving forward as a team.

"My personal wish is that the decision that we made in consensus will help us to move forward without the need to question actions which I view as important in our bid to engage the rakyat," he said to reporters after the meeting.

'For the good of the party'

Meanwhile, Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Razlan Rafii urged members to not dwell on the past.

"We think this decision was made for the good of the party and the members, and of course for the rakyat," he said in a statement.

As an experienced member who has held many high-ranking positions within the party, Muhyiddin should understand that this decision was made in the party's interests, Razlan said.

He also asked that Muhyiddin accept the decision and calm down his supporters, for the sake of the party.

In a series of Twitter postings, Umno supreme council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan said that no organisation will survive "if gross indiscipline is tolerated".

Today's decision, he said, is a recognition that discipline is essential to any organisation.

"At the same time, the constitution must be respected. It is there to articulate the rules to protect the organisation from crumbling," he explained.

Muhyiddin was suspended from his position within the party with immediate effect earlier today.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is one of Umno's three vice-presidents, is taking over the duties of the deputy president.

Muhyiddin, who was the deputy prime minister, had been openly critical of troubled state fund 1MDB, which is Najib's brainchild, before being removed from the cabinet last year.

He then complained that he was being prevented from doing his duties as party deputy president.

He was also not allowed to speak during the Umno annual general assembly last December.