KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Umno MP Tan Sri Annuar Musa has supported a call by a party member yesterday to name a top leader from Umno to be named as the deputy prime minister (DPM) by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

"It is a good view. I also pray that one of the top leaders of [Umno] be appointed [as DPM]. Keep up the effort so that Malay parties did not split. 

"I am confident that the PM can evaluate [this proposal],” the recently-dismissed Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general posted on his Twitter account.

He was commenting on a news report by Umno-linked portal Suara.TV calling for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to also reshuffle the Cabinet, in order to reduce tensions between the latter’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Umno.

In the report, Umno Youth executive council member Bastien Onn said the decision needs to be made as some ministers are purportedly not performing in their tasks.

"I would like to advise Muhyiddin for him to look back at the composition of the Cabinet to rectify the situation and he should take that approach,” he was quoted as saying.

"The Cabinet appointments that were made in March 2020 have been tested for nine months and we see that some ministers have not reached a satisfactory level and he must drop the minister who did not show good performance.”

In the same article, Bastien also criticised Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for what he called a "rash decision” to dismiss Annuar from the BN secretary-general position last Monday.

"It further strengthens the public’s claim, especially the young, that Umno is a party where members cannot have different views from the leaders and can face action.

"In fact, it will further alienate young people who are mostly idealistic. If we do not celebrate this diversity, then there will be other parties that do so, which causes Umno to lose its attractiveness,” he reportedly said.