KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been never been more popular than after he was dropped from the Cabinet today, judging from the flood of “likes” and shares of his statement on the social network within the first three hours of its posting.

His first official statement following his removal as deputy prime minister and education minister has since received over 132,000 likes and has been shared more than 31,000 times in the space of just three hours and is still growing.

The page has over 424,000 fans at the time of writing, up 10.9 per cent from the same period last week, with new fans making up over 41,000 of the total.

A graph showing the activity on Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's Facebook page.

In the comment section of his Facebook page update, several users have showed their support for the Pagoh MP after his bold criticism on debt-laden fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s handling cost him his job.

“Boleh pecat TPM tapi belum tentu boleh pecat Timbalan President Umno,” said the top comment by a user called Adi Adib in Malay, which received nearly 2,600 likes.

[Translation: They can sack the deputy prime minister, but they cannot yet sack the Umno deputy president.]

“Kami sntiasa bsama TSMY!!!.. krana kami tahu apa yg dkatakn TSMY adalh betul..,” said another comment by user Irwan Safian in Malay, using Muhyiddin’s initials.

[Translation: We are always with Muhyiddin! Because we know what Muhyiddin said was right.]

Several commenters also urged Muhyiddin to join forces with opposition party PAS, echoing calls made by several PAS leaders today, including central working committee member Norazli Musa.

“Harapan saya kpd TSMY. Moga dpt berbincang dgn PAS membina malaysia. Gabungan baru. Mungkin atas nama pakatan islam. Kita tinggalkan PR & BN,” said a user calling himself Lim Ah Lem.

[Translation: My hope for Muhyiddin, hope you can discuss with PAS to build Malaysia. A new coalition. Maybe under the name of Islamic pact. We leave Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional.]

“Saya cadangakan tan sri lompat parti. Pergi ke pembangkang. Iaitu PAS,” said another user called Siti Nur Aisyah Rosli.

[Translation: I suggest you jump ship. Go to the opposition. That is PAS.]

In a hastily-convened press conference in Putrajaya this afternoon, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib confirmed rumours that Muhyiddin will be replaced by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

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.

Muhyiddin was replaced by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who remained as the home minister at the same time.

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.