Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has denied conspiring with opposition leaders to call for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

His denial follows similar denials yesterday by two opposition leaders who were accused of meeting Muhyiddin  on the issue - DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

“Both of them (Lim and Azmin) have already denied this, so there is no need for me to deny it as well.

“But just to be clear – I am not involved,” Muhyiddin, who is deputy Umno president, said in his opening speech at the Petaling Jaya Utara division Umno Youth delegates’ meeting today.

Malaysiakini was barred from entering the venue, and was initially told this was because the online news portal was not invited.

Later - when another reporter was invited into the venue after being initially barred for the same reason - Malaysiakini was told it was still not allowed to enter, ostensibly because there were no seats left and no one, including photographers, were allowed to stand during Muhyiddin’s speech.

The allegation of conspiracy with the opposition was floated by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin ( photo ), who claimed Muhyiddin was not removed from the cabinet for being vocal on the 1MDB issue.

Instead, Raja Petra said, Muhyiddin was sacked because plans were in motion for the no-confidence vote against Najib, which would use 1MDB issue as an excuse.

According to him, Muhyiddin  met with Lim and Azmin to discuss the plot.

Following this, Azmin, who is also Selangor menteri besar, said he had only met with Muhyiddin on the Selangor water issue , and that he has also met with Najib on the same issue.

Meanwhile, Lim who is also the Penang chief minister, said he had only met Muhyiddin during official functions where other chief ministers and menteri besars were present, and never in private or with a group of opposition leaders.