KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — The removal of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and several others from the federal Cabinet today is a conspiracy to stifle dissent over the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) fiasco, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan claimed today.

The former Bar Council president claimed that it was clear that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was clearly moving against any and all who questioned his alleged links to 1MDB, as proven by the Muhyiddin’s removal as deputy prime minister and the sudden termination of Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s tenure as Attorney-General (AG).

“Events today prove that the prime minister should take a leave of absence because it is very obvious that those affected by the moves like the AG and the deputy prime minister were involved in the questioning, one way or another, of 1MDB,” she said at a news conference here.

“Isn’t it obvious? Everyone critical of 1MDB is out within 24 hours,” she added.

Ambiga added that there is no clear reasoning for Abdul Gani’s removal from the AG post as his term would be up in October due to the mandatory civil service retirement age of 60 anyway.

“Why remove him in hurry when he was leaving in October? None of it makes sense unless you link it to the 1MDB taskforce,” she said.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers is one of the four public agencies tasked with investigating 1MDB and allegations of the prime minister having embezzled RM2.6 billion from the state-owned company into the his personal accounts.

The social activist also tied Muhyiddin’s comments on the 1MDB controversy over the weekend to his removal from the Cabinet today.

“This doesn’t give confidence to the people that the investigation will go on unimpeded,” she added.

Muhyiddin had during the weekend urged Najib to satisfactorily explain the 1MDB controversy, claiming that he and other ministers were unaware of the “real facts”.

This resulted in a rare public rebuke from the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday, which urged Muhyiddin and other members of the administration not to pre-judge the ongoing investigations on 1MDB.

Ambiga asked if other members of the 1MDB taskforce, which includes officials from Bank Negara Malaysia, the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, will also be intimidated into kowtowing for the prime minister.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was announced as Muhyiddin’s replacement as deputy prime minister earlier today while still keeping the Home Ministry portfolio.

Muhyiddin also lost his position as Education Minister, with the portfolio split into two: Education and Higher Education, taken by Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh respectively.

Four other ministers were dropped: Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who is also Umno vice-president; Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, who is also MIC president; Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek; and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin.