Umno supreme council member Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz will leave his fate in the hands of the party after a branch women's wing passed a resolution calling for his head to roll due to his rude remarks against former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"I can't interfere, this is democracy. They have made their stand and I hope they will send the adopted resolution to the supreme council and let the council decide," he said when met at the Parliament lobby today.

The supreme council is the party's top decision-making body.

Nazri, who is also minister in the Prime Minister's Department, refused to elaborate on the matter beyond saying that he has the right to respond to Mahathir over his criticisms.

Last Friday, Wanita Umno Lubuk Kawah branch - which falls under the Kubang Pasu division in Mahathir's home state of Kedah - unanimously voted for the resolution calling for the minister's sacking.

Previously, Nazri has accused the former premier of trying to undermine the government and Umno. He also challenged Mahathir to be 'a real man and resign' from the party.

Booklet to be published

Mahathir had been making scathing criticisms against his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration over several issues such as the scrapping of the half bridge project, the management of Proton and the issuance of Approved Permits.

While claiming that it was nothing personal, Mahathir had on one occasion even wondered aloud if he had made the wrong choice in naming Abdullah as his replacement.

Abdullah, who took over the reins in 2003, has refused to engage in a slugfest with his former boss but many leaders both past and present have come out strongly against Mahathir.

In a related development, the government said it will publish a booklet to answer the queries raised by Mahathir.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal said the booklet, expected to be finalised soon, will be distributed for free to the people.

On Saturday, Mahathir had urged the government to declassify all documents pertaining to the talks between Malaysia and Singapore on the bridge issue.

The former premier said the Official Secrets Act must not be used to 'hide untruths'.