KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob downplayed his ascent to become a deputy prime minister under the previous Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin administration, saying he was just lucky to be the next in line.

Ismail Sabri told the Keluar Sekejap podcast that Muhyiddin had wanted to appoint the president of Umno as his deputy but Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was then charged with corruption — and the government had wanted a keep a clean image.

"Muhyiddin wanted for the government to not only be clean, but also seen clean ... Not because he didn’t like Zahid, not because he doubted Zahid’s capabilities,” Ismail Sabri related.

Zahid was previously charged with 47 counts, including dishonest misappropriation of funds from his charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi.

He was later discharged not amounting to an acquittal in September 2023.

Ismail Sabri said he was third in line, since Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was not an MP — leading him to be appointed as a senior minister.

"Maybe the timing was right,” he said.

Ismail Sabri was initially appointed as one of the four senior ministers in the Muhyiddin Cabinet in March 2020.

He later become the deputy prime minister in July 2021, and took over as prime minister not long after in August 2021.