The normally soft-spoken and mild mannered Muhyiddin Yassin took many by surprise with his latest statement, in which he accused Umno members of being cowards for not backing him.

This was perhaps the proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back.

Yesterday, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the party was "sick and tired" of those making damaging statements in public.

Tengku Adnan also revealed that seven Umno members being monitored for disciplinary infractions might have their membership or positions suspended.

This immediately fuelled speculations that Muhyiddin could be suspended as Umno deputy president soon.

Tengku Adnan's statement came hot on the heels of Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunus claiming there is an attempt to oust Muhyiddin.

Over the past few days, a portal, which is a staunch defender of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, has escalated its attacks on Muhyiddin.

Among others, the portal - MyKMU.net - blamed the former education minister for turning teachers against the government due to the problematic 1BestariNet system.

It appears that even Muhyiddin's camp is bracing for the possibility of the veteran politician being suspended.

"I think it's almost confirmed there is a move to have tsmy (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) suspended," says a WhatsApp message from a source close to the Umno number two.

Stumbling block for Zahid

While certain Umno supreme council members appear to dismiss or downplay the issue, Muhyiddin's supporters believe they are just waiting for the right time to pounce on the former deputy prime minister.

"If they deny it, it could mean action is on the cards,” said one supporter.

Some view Muhyiddin's position as a stumbling block for Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the Umno vice-president who replaced Muhyiddin as deputy prime minister.

Yesterday, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz vowed to see Zahid succeed Najib, a statement which also raised a red flag among Muhyiddin's supporters.

In late July, Najib axed Muhyiddin as deputy prime minister following the latter's criticism of 1MDB.

H e was then replaced by Zahid, a move which breached party tradition as it was the first time an Umno vice-president superceded a serving deputy president to become deputy prime minister.

Move will strengthen Najib

Meanwhile, Merdeka Center's Ibrahim Suffian said suspending Muhyiddin would strengthen Najib's position.

"For stability to return, there has to be some kind of reckoning within the leadership - between leaders who no longer see eye-to-eye with the leadership and the leaders themselves," Ibrahim told Malaysiakini .

Compared with the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as Umno deputy president in 1998, he said suspending Muhyiddin would be a milder option and minimise the shock factor.

Furthermore, Ibrahim said, unlike Anwar, Muhyiddin appears unable to gather the numbers.

"I'm not sure how much support he (Muhyiddin) can command from the grassroots. In the past, when a similar situation happened to Anwar, you had large crowds of people.

"We are not seeing that kind of response (with Muhyiddin)

"Certainly Muhyiddin has some loyalists around him. I am not certain of the numbers, whether they are large enough to disrupt the processes within Umno," he added.

Ibrahim said Muhyiddin must also decide whether or not he wants to continue the struggle from within the framework of Umno and BN, or if he wants to do it from outside the ruling party

"If he chooses to continue the struggle outside the ruling party and eventually finds some way to collobrate with the opposition, the cost will be high.

"Muhyiddin only has to look at his predecessor, who is currently sitting in jail," he added in reference to Anwar, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for sodomy, a charge Anwar claims was fabricated.

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