The continued presence of Muhyiddin Yassin, Shaife Apdal, and Mukhriz Mahathir in Umno may lead to a major split in the party, similar to the 1987 crisis, said a pro-Umno portal.
"If Muhyiddin, Shafie, and Mukhriz are not sacked, then the Team A, Team B incident in 1987 may repeat.
"Umno would be split, and it would be masterminded by the 'troublesome youth' (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) again," said MyKMU.net , referring to Mahathir's role in the past Umno split.
In 1987, Mahathir's Team A was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh's Hamzah's Team B.
After Razaleigh's faction lost, they challenged the outcome of the party polls in court, leading to Umno being deregistered.
MyKMU warned that a similar situation is happening now, with Muhyiddin, Shafie and Mukhriz planning to challenge Umno president Najib Abdul Razak for control of the party.
This, it said, is part of their plan to become prime minister, deputy prime minister, and senior minister respectively.
"If that's their plan, then it's clear that they're hungry for power, and not fighting for the party," it added.
MyKMU said this was one of two possible reasons why the trio are sticking with Umno.
The other reason, it speculated, was so they can attack Najib relentlessly, until they get sacked, and hope that they can drag Najib down too.
"Perhaps they don't realise this but that is a high risk method because not only will they see Najib fall, but Umno too will lose power," it warned.
Muhyiddin, Shafie and Mukhriz have been removed from government for speaking out against Najib.
They are expected to take part in a cross-political gathering on March 27 aimed at removing Najib from power.
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