Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim is hoping that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak can be replaced with a former Umno leader or young leaders from Pakatan Harapan.

This is because he no longer has confidence in the 'Kelantan prince" to be the country's next leader.

"Listening to him discuss current issues on TV and in Utusan Malaysia in the past week has confirmed that my assessment was flawed. I am sorry if I have misled the hopes of many," Zaid wrote in his blog today.

While he did not name the prince, this is an obvious reference to Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who recently announced his full backing for Najib.

"My hopes now rest on the young Pakatan Harapan leaders, as well as other ex-Umno leaders, because I believed that among them we can find one who has the qualities that the Malays desperately need from their leaders."

Zaid hopes that these two factions can start trusting one another and join forces to convince the Malays to support them.

"I am assuming, of course, that these leaders will not want to go back to Umno or start talking about having Umno blood running through their veins.

"I am also assuming that Pakatan Harapan is willing to consider anyone else other than Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as leader for the opposition in the next election," he added.

Zaid is currently one of the main proponents of the Save Malaysia declaration spearheaded by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The declaration, which seeks to oust Najib and implement institutional reforms, has been supported by Umno rebels including Muhyiddin Yassin, as well as leaders from the opposition and civil society.