KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has outright denied that he has ever offered Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal the position of deputy prime minister.

In a brief press statement today, the prime minister said that Shafie’s cryptic words on the matter, as reported in a Malaysiakini article dated July 14, was only an assumption.

"I would like to firmly state that I have never offered the position of deputy prime minister to him last March after I became prime minister,” said the Pagoh MP.

"Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal’s statement in the interview where he said: "he did not spell it out, but I know about that is not true. That statement is only his assumption.”

In the interview, Shafie reportedly said that Muhyiddin had approached him to obtain Sabah-based party Warisan’s support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

He reportedly claimed that Muhyiddin had contacted him two weeks after PN took Putrajaya and had suggested a meeting.

"Only when he held the position (as prime minister), for a couple of weeks, I think, he did text me. He said it was the right time for us to talk,” Shafie reportedly said.

"This was quite some time ago. It was through text messages.”