Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Muhyiddin Yassin has expressed disappointment with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

The former Umno deputy president said he had “high hopes” for the Youth chief when he was still in Umno.

Muhyiddin was responding to Khairy's call on former prime minister and Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad to retire from politics.

On the contrary, the Bersatu president said, Khairy should instead be urging Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to step down.

“Asking an opposition leader who has no powers to retire is not a form of courage. Asking Najib, who has all the powers in his hands, to step down is the true symbol of courage.

“Do Khairy and the Umno Youth leadership still possess the idealism? Or has the Youth wing lost its idealism due to being infected with the 'cash is king' virus?” Muhyiddin asked in a media statement today.

The term "cash is king" is often used by Najib's detractors, especially Mahathir, to accuse the prime minister of using financial rewards to win support. 

Apart from Mahathir, Khairy also named DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang and jailed PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim as two other individuals who should retire from politics as they would continue to divide the people if they do not do so.

Khairy, who is also Youth and Sports Minister, claimed that Mahathir and Anwar as former Umno leaders had attempted to divide the Malays to achieve their own vested interests, while Lim allegedly tried to create a rift between the Malays and Chinese.

Alluding to perceived close ties between Umno and PAS, Lim in response to Khairy had questioned whether the latter believed that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang should also retire from politics for the same reasons he urged them to do so.