Lawyer Salim Bashir said there is now nothing to stop any MP from going to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong claiming to have statutory declarations (SDs) from MPs backing him or her to lead the government.

He cited the Federal Court decision in the infamous Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin v Zambry Abd Kadir case over the post of Perak menteri besar in 2009.

“The Perak case has given precedent that the test of confidence may be established and gathered from extraneous sources if they are reliable and established, other than voting from the floor.

“This decision seems to provide now an avenue for MPs to show or withdraw support based on individual declarations. It also answers pivotal questions as to whether the prime minister can lose support outside of Parliament,” he said.

According to Salim, ideally, the prime minister must advise the King to dissolve Parliament under Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution.

“The King, at his discretion, can agree or refuse consent to dissolve Parliament under Article 40(2) of the Federal Constitution, in which case the prime minister must then tender his resignation,” he said.

He added that the current political conundrum warrants a special sitting of Parliament under standing order 11(3).

“It can even be called without sufficient notice for purposes of tabling and debating the motion of confidence against the prime minister in the Dewan Rakyat.”

At a press conference last night, Muhyiddin said he would propose a framework for bipartisan political cooperation, including equal annual allocations for all MPs regardless of their political party.

Following this, Pakatan Harapan, Umno, Warisan, MUDA, Upko, Pejuang, and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) have all said they “strongly” reject Muhyiddin’s overtures.

Opposition parties said they had proposed the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA), which Muhyiddin announced yesterday, last year in order to stabilise the country and the government, but the Perikatan Nasional-led government rejected it then.