Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak has taken a jab at former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for thinking that he has the right to remove Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The Communication and Multimedia Minister said this stemmed from Dr Mahathir's belief that he was the one who had worked hard to make Najib the prime minister.

This, he said, sounded like what people say in the United States that "If I can hire, then I can fire."

"Actually this is not true and is a fallacy. Dr Mahathir is not Najib's boss or employer who can just sack him as he pleases," he said in a posting on his blog sskeruak.blogspot.my.

Some, he said, might even call it delusional that one man could think he decided who should or should not lead the country, as if the democratic system in how the country's leaders and governments were chosen no longer existed.

"Dr Mahathir can probably make that claim when it comes to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. After all, he did appoint Abdullah as his deputy and eventually resigned and handed the country to Abdullah," he said.

Salleh said it was Abdullah who appointed Najib as his deputy, and if anyone could claim that he made Najib the prime minister, then probably Abdullah was the one who could make that claim.

The minister noted that in 2013, Najib led Barisan Nasional in the general election and the ruling coalition won that election.

"So, in 2013, it was the people or the voters, and not Dr Mahathir, who made Najib the prime minister. Dr Mahathir was just one voter among 11 million voters," he said.

Salleh further said it was UMNO that chose Najib as its president, therefore making him the legitimate leader of UMNO elected by the members.

"At least there were no allegations of fraud during the party elections and Najib did not deregister UMNO to cover up that fraud like what Bapa Merdeka, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, alleged Dr Mahathir did in 1987," he said.