It is not uncommon for a menteri besar who is not on the same page with the leadership to be changed, and this happened in Selangor as well, according to Salleh Said Keruak.

"Selangor in 2014 is a classic example. When (then) menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim no longer saw eye-to-eye with the party leadership, they replaced him.

"And they signed statutory declarations, which they sent to the Selangor Sultan to prove that Khalid no longer had the majority support of his party," Salleh said.

During the crisis, known as the 'Kajang Move', PKR had hoped to replace Khalid with its president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, though the initial speculation was that a by-election would be engineered to instal former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as menteri besar.

But this was met with opposition from the palace, following which, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was appointed as menteri besar.

In an email interview with Malaysiakini , Salleh was asked if Mukhriz Mahathir was ousted as Kedah menteri besar due to the incessant attacks by his father, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Similar situations in Terengganu, Johor

The communication and multimedia minister pointed out that apart from Selangor, similar situations had unravelled in Terengganu and Johor, after the menteris besar openly attacked the prime minister and party president.

"There is not a single state that has not seen its menteri besar replaced. In some of these cases, it was because of the displeasure of the state ruler. Perak, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang are some examples," he added.

Responding to another question, the former Sabah chief minister also dismissed speculation that changing the menteri besar at this juncture could be detrimental to BN.

Once again, Salleh referred to the situation in Selangor.

"The Selangor menteri besar was replaced after just one year in office (following the 2013 general election) in 2014.

"Did it hurt the opposition? Or are you saying that Pakatan Harapan is going to lose Selangor in the next general election because they kicked Khalid out?" he asked.

After two weeks of political turmoil in Kedah, Mukhriz this morning agreed to relinquish his post as menteri besar.

He will be replaced by Kedah Umno deputy state liaison chief Ahmad Bashah Md Hanapiah, who initiated the campaign to oust the incumbent on the grounds that the state Umno has lost faith in Mukhriz's leadership.