KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — Supporters thronged the house of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today, after he was unceremoniously removed as deputy prime minister and all ministerial posts in a Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak earlier this afternoon.

The crowd steadily grew in size at Muhyiddin’s Bukit Damansara home, as the Umno deputy president received visits from several party leaders including Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal — who also happened to be culled in the administrative shakeup.

It is understood that both men spent over an hour in a closed-door meeting, before Shafie left the premises at 4.20pm.

The former rural and regional development minister, however, declined to comment when approached, asking journalists gathered at the house to refer to his earlier statement.

“Refer to my statement. Never be worried, never be sad when you fight for the rakyat interest,” Shafie told reporters with a smile while leaving.

While Najib did not make any specific reference in his announcement in Putrajaya earlier today, it is believed that Muhyiddin’s removal came after he openly questioned the prime minister over the latter’s alleged links to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fiasco, when attending the Cheras Umno division meeting over the weekend.

Cheras Umno chief Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee, who was also at Muhyiddin’s house, said the Umno deputy president was well within his right to voice out his concerns at the weekend meeting.

“There is no problem in that as it is his prerogative right as deputy prime minister. He just spoke to the party members, there is no harm in that,” he told journalists as he was leaving the house.

Supporters of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin are seen outside his house in Bukit Damansara, July 28, 2015. — Picture by Kamles Kumar

One of Muhyiddin’s aides said the situation is calm despite many of his supporters having gathered in the house.

“Everyone is calm and have accepted the decision that the PM made.

“It’s not to say we are happy, but we accept it with an open heart,” the aide said.

Apart from the removal of Muhyiddin, Shafie and several others in the federal administration seen to be critical of Najib’s handling of 1MDB, the prime minister also appointed four new members from among the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that is currently probing the state-owned firm over its multi-billion ringgit dealings.

This morning, the chief secretary to the government announced in a statement that Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s tenure as Attorney-General (A-G) had been terminated due to “health reasons”.

Prior to the termination of his tenure — which took effect on July 27 — Abdul Gani was leading a multi-agency special taskforce investigating allegations that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been misappropriated into Najib’s personal bank accounts through 1MDB.