Mohamed Khaled Nordin said today that many in Umno want Najib Abdul Razak held responsible for the 1MDB scandal, despite the party's apparent spirited defence of its former president.

"In Umno, not everyone is of the position that Najib was right. Many in Umno want Najib to take responsibility for the 1MDB crisis.

"We are not 'yes men'. It is just that we have our own way of dealing with internal issues," the Umno vice-president said in a statement today.

Several Umno leaders, including Najib's successor Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, have defended the former prime minister accused of allegedly misappropriating billions of ringgit from state fund 1MDB.

Khaled acknowledged that Umno was an organisation that placed great emphasis on its president, adding that in the case of Najib, the party had to pay dearly for this deference in the 14th general election when BN lost power.

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He also blamed former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin for having perpetuated such a system .

Both Mahathir and Muhyiddin had formed the Umno splinter party Bersatu before GE14, and together with their Harapan allies, wrested federal power from BN.

"I admit that Umno is presidential-centric in nature.

"I would like to stress that among those responsible for building and perpetuating such a structure in Umno was Muhyiddin and Mahathir," his statement read.

However, Khaled said Umno will learn from this lesson.

"What happened in the GE14 was an isolated incident, which saw Umno paying an enormous price for prioritising its president over the party and institutions.

"But that is a fact of life. We do not regret but will learn from our mistakes. Umno understands this great lesson and does not intend to repeat it," he said.