Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has lamented that he was given the boot and not 1MDB's executives.

"If I woke up one day and found out the company I own owed billions of ringgit, I would sack the board of directors.

"So far no one from 1MDB were sacked. But the deputy prime minister and a minister were sacked instead," he said in his speech while officiating the Semporna Umno division annual general meeting today.

Muhyiddin is also Umno deputy president. His remarks earned cheers from the enthusiastic delegates.

Semporna Umno is led by Mohd Shafie Apdal, who was also removed as Rural and Regional Development Minister last month.

Both were critical of Najib's handling of 1MDB which has amassed over RM41.8 billion in debt.

Prior to Muhyiddin's removal as deputy prime minister, he had also called for 1MDB's top leadership to be sacked.

He later lamented that Najib was ignoring his advice on handling the 1MDB controversy before being removed from the cabinet.