Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has said that the debacle surrounding former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's appointment to the party's supreme council was "disappointing" and "embarrassing".

"The initial appointment was disappointing. This is now just embarrassing. We need to be a credible opposition. This is just amateur hour," he tweeted in response to the news of Apandi's U-turn on the appointment.

Earlier today Apandi was among 11 people appointed by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the Umno supreme council.

While considering it an honour at first, Apandi later rejected the post, citing possible negative perceptions linked to his time as a judge and attorney-general.

Khairy had earlier retweeted a post by Twitter user Shamil Norshidi, which poked fun at the Umno supreme council appointees line-up.

"Bernie (Sanders) commenting on the 'new' Umno supreme council lineup," Shamil wrote, quoting a tweet by the US politician which read: "Do not despair and give into cynicism. Another world is possible and together we can transform our political system."

As attorney-general, Apandi had cleared former premier Najib Abdul Razak of any wrongdoing in the 1MDB and SRC International scandals.

Najib has since been charged for the SRC International case and is still being probed for the 1MDB scandal.