KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Umno’s Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein pleaded ignorance today, when asked about an alleged meeting with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Earlier today, new MACC chief Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull said he had met with the then-Cabinet to discuss replacing Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was prime minister at the time.

"It is beyond my knowledge,” said Zahid, who is now acting Umno president, replacing Najib who stepped down after the May 9 general election.

When pressed further for an answer, the Bagan Datuk MP said: "Me? I do not know. Datuk Hisham, did [he] meet you?” he asked Umno vice-president Hishammuddin who was with him.

"I don’t know, we are not in the Cabinet,” laughed the former deputy prime minister, before dodging further questions.

Meanwhile, Zahid said while the party respects the procedure and action taken by the MACC towards Najib, it was uneasy when action was taken at inconsiderate hours.

"We respect MACC’s procedure, as long as it is done at a suitable time, we feel all parties need to respect it.

"However, we don’t approve of it when it was carried out at odd hours,” he said.

Najib was summoned to the MACC headquarters this morning to record his statement concerning SCR International.

The interrogation begun at 10am and continued until 2.15pm with a 30-minute break in between.

In a tell-all press conference earlier, Mohd Shukri said he and former MACC chief Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed had met with cabinet ministers to convince them to take action against Najib over the 1MDB investigations.

He said only three ministers — former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former rural and regional development minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, and former finance minister II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah — had agreed to speak up on the matter while others were too scared.