Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's 1MDB ultimatum to his cabinet members indicate the existence of a brewing rebellion amongst ministers.

But would the dissenting voices quit?

According to veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin, this would not materialise.

"Do not expect any of them to step down. Some would not dare because they owe too much to him while others have dark secrets to hide.

"For those who do not have skeletons to hide, they would stay on in defiance of his challenge and indirectly, dare him to sack them," he penned in his blog .

Kadir was responding to Najib's cousin Hishammuddin Hussein, who tweeted that he agreed with the ultimatum but based on three conditions, which were "1) rationalisation of 1MDB, 2) accountability if there is wrongdoing and 3) transparency on (conditions 1 and 2)."

The defence minister's tweet fueled speculation of a rift, with some predicting that he might resign. But Hishammuddin has denied this .

Two other vocal critics of 1MDB, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as well as Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal have yet to respond to the ultimatum.

Rebels from Umno?

Meanwhile, Kadir said the latest development also punctured holes in Najib's claim that he would not bow down to the demands of Dr Mahathir Mohamad because he enjoyed the support of Umno members and the people.

"But if there are rebels in the Cabinet, then he does not have full support of his party. The Cabinet rebels are most likely to be from Umno.

"Najib had said repeatedly that he has full backing of Umno. Going by the way the party and its various wings held meetings after meetings to pledge support for him, it is natural for the Umno president to believe that he has their full support.

"But if he believes strongly enough that there are rebels in his Cabinet so as to challenge them to leave, then the indications are he no longer enjoys full support of his party.

"Could the PM have been checkmated yet again or his Bugis pride is causing him to lose sight of reality?" he asked.

However, the former News Straits Times Group editor-in-chief noted that it may not be a full-scale rebellion but an open disagreement or qualified support as the case with Hishammuddin.

Kadir also questioned the need for Najib to regularly meet Umno division chiefs.

"If he has full support of his party, why is there the need for him to meet groups of six to 10 Umno divisional chiefs on regular basis? Some sources say on daily.

"Is he fearful that past pledges have waned and need to be reinforced with financial allocations and promises?" he asked.