(May 11): No one in the Umno supreme council meeting today asked for party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today, adding that rumours of a revolt against the prime minister were baseless.

The Youth and Sports Minister said that the recent comments he and other Cabinet ministers had issued in public on “current issues” were not aimed at the party president, but just an attempt to air their views.

"And there’s nothing wrong with us expressing our concerns about current issues, and the prime minister was very open in accepting the views of the supreme council," Khairy told reporters after attending the supreme council meeting today.

"That’s why when you ask me how was the mood, it was very positive, because we discussed in a very open situation."

When asked if anyone had asked Najib to step down during the meeting, Khairy replied, "Absolutely not".

He said they had only discussed issues that were worrying Malaysians, and that the topic of loyalty did not arise in the meeting.

"What was written by Zam was completely baseless," said Khairy, referring to former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin.

Zainuddin today, in his blog, claimed that Najib no longer enjoyed the support of the people and his party members, and predicted that the prime minister would be informed of this during the meeting.

He said that based on information received, all Umno Supreme Council members had accepted the fact that Najib does not have the support of the grassroots.

"As president, he (Najib) has the mandate to continue leading the party and today we touched on issues, not on the position of any leaders, but more on our efforts to resolve the issues," said Khairy today.

He said Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had also denied in the meeting that the latter had a 'secret, clandestine meeting' in Milan, Italy to discuss a possible takeover, as claimed by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim in a blog post.

Calls for Najib, Malaysia's sixth prime minister to resign have risen since pilgrims’ fund Lembaga Tabung Haji confirmed buying land from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) – the state strategic investor whose RM42 billion debt has pushed even retired Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ask for Najib's ouster.

Umno leaders, the highest being Muhyiddin, have also criticised the deal, while Khairy issued a statement pressing for answers to several questions, such as how 1MDB intended to use the money received from the sale of the land, and about conflict of interest given that a few of Tabung Haji's top officials also held positions in 1MDB.

Party vice-president and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein also joined the chorus, calling for a new international auditor to do a forensic check on 1MDB's accounts.

Dr Mahathir said that Umno and Barisan Nasional will lose the next general election if he Najib did not resign. – The Malaysian Insider