An Umno man should be a person who breathes Umno, thinks Umno and talks Umno, said its veteran leader Tenku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Razaleigh, who is fondly known as Ku Li, said he supports embattled party president Najib Abdul Razak becaue he is a party man.

"An Umno man breathes, eats, talks, thinks (about Umno)... Spiritually, he is (also) an Umno man," Razaleigh said when met at the Parliament lobby today.

"I'm an Umno member. (Former prime minister Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) is not. I've been an Umno member for almost 50 years and a division chief for more than 40 years," he had said in an interview in Utusan Malaysia yesterday.

"So what if I signed (a declaration supporting Najib)? I'm an Umno member, I must support my president," he was quoted as saying.

He also rebutted Mahathir's contention that Umno is no longer Umno but is Najib's party now.

"You can play with words but what is it (Umno) legally? It is a registered political society, it is a political party of the members who subsribe to the ideals and objectives of that organisation,” he said.

While reiterating he wants the truth on 1MDB and the donation to Najib's personal accounts, the Gua Musang MP, however, said he would not comment on the matter based on hearsay.

"I have told you that (the issues relating to)1MDB and the rest will only be discussed after the auditor-general's (report on 1MDB) is tabled in Parliament," he said.

"I'm not going to talk on things based on hearsay... I'm not defending anyone, I want the truth," he added.

Meanwhile, Razaleigh declined to comment on the suggestion to sack suspended Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin.

Being an Umno veteran, he said, did not qualify him to decide Muhyiddin's fate.

"It doesn't mean that I have the authority to sack. Does it qualify me to sack anybody?" he said.