KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — Thrust into international spotlight for his calm handling of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370,  Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein claimed today he could not accomplish the task without the support of his fellow Cabinet ministers.

In a Twitter post, the defence minister paid tribute to Umno lawmakers, including his cousin, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“I cant do this alone w/o support frm @NajibRazak @MuhyiddinYassin @Anifah_myg @shaberyc @IsmailSabri60 @Khairykj @mpkotabelud @Zahid_Hamidi,” Hishammuddin posted on his official Twitter account @HishammuddinH2O.

Hishammuddin had been handling most of the press conferences since the plane went missing, while Najib has remained mostly in the sidelines save for two pivotal appearances.

Najib first announced on March 15 that the plane might have taken two different paths based on latest satellite data, and on March 24 announced that the plane had ended its journey over the southern Indian Ocean.

The other ministers listed by Hishammuddin included Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, who briefly share the stage with him on March 18.

He also named Minister of Communication and Multimedia Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin, and Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Also named was Home Minister and fellow Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who swapped portfolio with Hishammuddin in a Cabinet reshuffle last year after the 13^th general elections.

A report by international news agency AFP today suggested that Hishammuddin’s cool handling of the MH370 crisis and his ability to engage an international audience makes him a likely successor to Najib as the next prime minister.

The Sembrong MP also possesses the right pedigree, being the son of Malaysia’s third prime minister Tun Hussein Onn and the grandson of Umno’s founder Datuk Onn Jaafar.

In the last Umno internal polls, Hishammuddin nearly lost his spot as vice-president to rival Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, who is the son of Malaysia’s fourth and longest-serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Hishammuddin was first elected the Minister of Youth and Sports in 1999, and then the Minister of Education in 2004, before becoming the Home Minister in 2009.