KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 ― Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s unceremonious removal as Petronas adviser was a "childish" act by the federal Cabinet and will backfire on the administration, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim asserted.

The former minister further claimed Dr Mahathir’s “Save Malaysia” movement may even benefit from the manoeuvre as more would now come forward to support the campaign to unseat Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

"It will embolden us. More people will come to support us because the act of humiliating Tun will backfire on him because it is a childish act," Zaid, formerly from Umno, told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

On Friday, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) issued a statement to say that the Cabinet had discussed Dr Mahathir's March 4 unveiling of the "Citizens' Declaration" against Najib and agreed that he should not hold any government-related posts since he no longer supports the government.

The PMO said the Cabinet then unanimously decided to terminate the former prime minister from his Petronas post.

Zaid, however, questioned the Cabinet’s role in the decision by pointing out that Petronas was not under its immediate purview.

"Everything about Petronas is under the Petronas Act, it's under (the) prime minister, so to say it's the Cabinet decision is to misrepresent the reality," the former de facto law minister said.

Yesterday, Zaid took to Twitter to criticise Dr Mahathir’s removal from Petronas, writing: "Najib humiliates Tun M by removing him from Petronas. A shameless, irresponsible and childish response from a Bugis warrior."

In The Star yesterday, Umno's Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, who was recently removed as Kedah Mentri Besar, reportedly pointed out that the federal government had refused to accept his father's resignation in 2013.

"Now the PMO wants to humiliate him by firing him," he was quoted saying in the report.

Last Friday, Dr Mahathir and over 40 Barisan Nasional veterans, opposition leaders and human rights activists came together to sign a Citizens' Declaration to campaign for Najib's removal.

The group has since been renamed the Save Malaysia movement and aims to garner hundreds and thousands more signatures to support their campaign.

Both Zaid and Mukhriz are signatories to the declaration.