“I was never involved in any conspiracy. There is no conspiracy,” he told reporters when announcing his decision to remain in Umno despite being suspended from his post as the party’s deputy president.

He was responding to Umno Supreme Council member Azalina Othman’s allegation that he had virtually admitted to being involved in such a conspiracy when he said former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail updated him on investigations into 1MDB.

The briefing, according to Muhyiddin, took place before he was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister and when Gani was still in service. He said his position in the administration gave him the right to be kept informed of the progress of investigations.

At today’s press conference, Muhyiddin again weighed in on the decision by Gani’s successor, Mohamed Apandi Ali, to clear Najib of suspicions of wrongdoing in the issue of extraordinary deposits into his personal bank accounts – the RM2.6 billion donation from a Saudi royal and RM42 million from SRC International.

“I’m sure the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s Operations Review Panel would not have issued statements (urging the anti-graft body to pursue the case further) if it had not found enough evidence to charge the PM,” he said. “I just hope the Attorney-General will do his duty.”