Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin today defended the Citizens' Declaration which called for Najib Abdul Razak's ouster as prime minister, stating that three other premiers had been removed in similar fashion.

"The demand for the prime minister to step down without waiting for an election and changing the government is not something new as seen during the leadership of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Hussein Onn and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who made way for Najib.

"In all those circumstances, the BN government was unaffected," he said.

As such, Muhyiddin said the bid to remove Najib as stated in the Citizens' Declaration was no different from what happened with the past prime ministers.

"The only difference was the demands for them to step down were due to political reasons and not scandals concerning questions of morality and integrity which are plaguing Najib now.

"It is no longer an Umno leadership issue but has become a national issue," he said.

Muhyiddin added that those insisting that efforts to oust Najib as prime minister should only be done during the general election are making a "big mistake".

"If majority of the rakyat reject Najib, then it would be appropriate for Najib to step down now, don't wait for the election.

"If the rakyat reject Najib in the election, they will also reject BN in total. It will cause BN to lose in the election," he said.

Muhyiddin said if Umno-BN leaders continue to be trapped in a denial syndrome and defend an individual who cannot be defended "in law, morality and religion", they would be rejected by the rakyat.

"Their rejection will not be because of the Citizens' Declaration but due to the failure of Umno leaders to align Umno with the values held by the rakyat – honesty, responsibility, transparency and fairness in the duties of leaders," he said.