KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will take legal action against those spreading rumours that he and Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin held a secret meeting in Jakarta last week that could affect the coalition government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The rumour began circulating online following Ismail Sabri’s absence from a December 8 Umno supreme council meeting here, news portal Malaysiakini reported yesterday.

"If you want to slander people, let's be reasonable. The immigration record should show that I didn't leave the country. It means I am in the country.

"I have already instructed my lawyer to take legal action against the slanderers,” the Bera MP told the news portal.

He added that on that day, he had lunch with a veteran journalist and later attended the opening ceremony for the Rainforest Challenge International in his Pahang constituency.

The name of the veteran journalist was not mentioned in Malaysiakini’s report.

The news portal reported that the "Jakarta Move” rumour was disseminated by an anonymous person on social media who claimed the two former prime ministers had met in the Indonesian capital and were "planning something”.

Anwar chairs the Pakatan Harapan coalition that won 82 seats out of 222 in the Dewan Rakyat in the 15th general election and was appointed prime minister of the "unity government” on November 24, after his closest rival Muhyiddin rejected the King’s proposal and insisted he had the support of the majority of elected representatives.

As PN chairman, Muhyiddin would customarily become the Opposition leader but he has instead named Bersatu secretary-general and Larut MP Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin to the role, raising the eyebrows of politicians and political observers alike.