SEBERANG PERAI, Oct 19 — Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today clarified that he was only joking when he made a remark about sacking the 12 other caretaker ministers from Perikatan Nasional.

He said that if he were serious, they would have already been sacked.

"He is still in the Cabinet. I didn’t sack him, so I was just joking,” he told reporters who asked him for response to Bersatu’s Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad, the caretaker minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Functions) who had challenged Ismail Sabri.

Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad had issued the dare earlier today, telling Ismail Sabri to sack the caretaker ministers and "create history” after the Umno vice-president’s recent remark in Bagan Datuk, Perak that he should’ve fired the PN 12.

The PN 12 were part of Ismail Sabri’s Cabinet who wrote directly to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong just before Parliament’s dissolution on October 10 to oppose calls for a general election this year, citing concern over the risks of voting during the monsoon season with nationwide floods forecasted.