Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who has come under pressure to quit from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is still "stable", said his cousin Hishammuddin Hussein ( photo ).

Najib, who is BN chairman and Umno president, still enjoys a stable position in both BN and Umno, he claimed.

The defence minister also revealed that Najib would be heading to Sarawak later today, where he said there would be an 'eye-opener' in terms of the prime minister’s position.

Najib has in the recent past attended a few rallies in a bid to show that he still commands the people's confidence.

Najib is slated to attend a state Gawai celebration dinner in Kuching tonight.

Tomorrow, some 12,000 people from state BN parties are expected to be at the Petra Jaya indoor stadium in Kuching to express support for him.

It was reported that last month, a 40,000 and a 12,000 strong crowd turned out in Tawau and Kuantan respectively to greet him while another 15,000 showed up in Johor to welcome him.

Uphold principles

The defence minister also denied that the prime minister issued an ultimatum to his cabinet ministers to resign if they did not agree with him on the 1MDB issue.

When asked would he would be silenced or whether he would continue to be vocal on 1MDB, Hishammuddin replied that a vocal person needed to be sensible and constructive in what  he or she says.

"Being vocal for the sake of being vocal will not do anybody any good," he remarked, adding that he will uphold his principles when speaking out on the 1MDB matter.

Najib's call for critical ministers to step down was seen as move to silence the ministers from raising the issue in the interest of the public.

This, however, rebutted by Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, who claimed his colleagues could never be threatened by Najib.