PUTRAJAYA, June 4— The “honourable thing” to do for any minister who disagrees with the prime minister is to resign, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today, amid claims of possible rebels in the federal Cabinet who are unhappy over the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fiasco.
The Home Minister stressed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has the power to appoint and sack Cabinet members.
“But Cabinet members must agree with the prime minister in all decisions,” Zahid told reporters after the monthly gathering at the ministry headquarters.
“If anyone loses confidence or questions his decisions openly, of course the honourable thing to do is to resign, without being asked,” he added.
On Monday, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told his Cabinet ministers to resign if they disagreed with his stand on 1MDB, the debt-laden investment firm now under probe for alleged impropriety.
“The prime minister asked any Cabinet member who was not with him on the 1MDB issue to resign but not a single person did so,” a Cabinet source was quoted saying in the news report.
According to the news report, the incident had taken place right after Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah presented 1MDB’s roadmap to his Cabinet colleagues.
The prime minister’s surprise declaration comes after calls from several veteran Umno leaders, including Tan Sri Shahrir Samad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who urged the ministers towards taking collective responsibility for the 1MDB controversy.
Shahrir, who is also chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers’ Club, told the ministers last Tuesday that those who disagreed with the Cabinet’s decision on 1MDB to relinquish their government positions.
