Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was either joking or being sarcastic when he said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was the best person to helm Umno.

This was what Khairy said when asked to respond to Mahathir's remark yesterday.

"He always being sarcastic so maybe he was poking fun (of me)," laughed Khairy when met at the lobby of Menara Dato' Onn in Kuala Lumpur today.

The former youth and sports minister declined to weigh in on his ability on helming the party.

"I think Tun (Mahathir) was being sarcastic," he said swiftly.

“I think the best candidate (for the post of) Umno president is Khairy Jamaluddin,” Mahathir had said yesterday.

Khairy had before this announced that his candidacy for a vice-president's post during the upcoming Umno party elections.

Following the defeat of BN in the May 9 general election, the voices for Umno to reform grow stronger with each passing day.

Towards this, Khairy has been tasked by party acting president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to come up with a plan to restructure the party.

Umno is slated to hold its elections on June 30.

Umno supreme council members Johari Abdul Ghani, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Shahidan Kassim and ousted Johor Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin have officially stated their interests in the three vice-presidents posts.

Speculation has been circulating that former ministers Mustapa Mohamed, Mahdzir Khalid and Ismail Sabri Yaakob, as well as Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, are also interested in the vice-presidents' posts.