Muhyiddin Yassin has stressed that as far as the 1MDB issue is concerned, he has his own stand and principle.

This, he added, is to defend the people, the good name of Umno and national interest.

"If I was dropped (as deputy prime minister) for my stand on this issue, I accept it," he said in a media statement.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, was dropped as deputy prime minister this afternoon in a cabinet reshuffle.

Replacing him is long-time Najib loyalist Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Muhyiddin said he respected the prerogative of the prime minister to appoint cabinet members and expressed gratitude for being appointed deputy prime minister since April 10, 2009.

Will be faithful to Umno

He said he had performed his duties as a policy maker diligently and have always supported government policy and Najib's leadership, except on 1MDB.

He vowed to remain faithful to Umno as the deputy party president and vowed to fulfil his responsibilities entrusted by party members, including to garner support for Umno from Malays and the Malaysian public.

Apart from Muhyiddin, other cabinet members who were dropped include Mohd Shapie Apdal, Hasan Malek, G Palanivel and Ewon Ebin. The new appointments will take effect from tomorrow.

The cabinet reshuffle comes two days after Muhyiddin made a scathing speech against Putrajaya and Najib's handling of the 1MDB controversy.

Muhyiddin had warned that the issue had badly damaged Umno's reputation and that the party would lose if snap polls were called soon.

He added that he had advised Najib multiple times on how to handle the issue but his suggestions were all ignored .

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