Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today lamented that he could not spend "Lailatulqadar" in Mecca as was his tradition, revealing that when he was in the holy city for the occasion in 2015, it also marked his appointment as deputy prime minister.

Lailatulqadar refers to when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad during the last 10 days of Ramadan and are considered by Muslims as a period of abundant blessings.

In 2015, Najib had purged his cabinet of opponents and suppressed the 1MDB investigations against him including by removing the attorney-general.

Among those he had purged then was deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, whom he replaced with Ahmad Zahid.