By Rasid Rahaman and Ziauddin Sharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: The Pakatan Rakyat's motion of no-confidence against the prime minister was described by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as a political ploy that has no chance of making it through the Dewan Rakyat.

Since there is no provision for such a motion under the House's Standing Order, Najib believes that it was only an attempt to show that the opposition dared to challenge the government.

Even if the motion was put to a vote, Najib said, the motion would fail as the opposition did not have enough MPs to carry it through.

"A vote of no-confidence will not happen because there is no provision for it. It will be up to the speaker as he has the authority (to decide on it)," said Najib in an interview with Berita Minggu.

"However, if there is no provision under the Standing Order and they (the opposition) know this, how is the speaker supposed to allow it?"

Last Thursday, opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail filed the emergency motion against Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the Dewan Rakyat speaker's office at 3.45pm.

Wan Azizah, however, said there would be no voting involved since the Pakatan Rakyat was not seeking a no-confidence vote.

Najib also dismissed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's relentless claims that Barisan Nasional MPs would cross over to the opposition as just "a show".

"By making such claims, they want to give the impression that the opposition can form a government. But as the date (Sept 16) draws near, Anwar is getting more disappointed."

Najib believed that Anwar, Parti Keadilan Rakyat's de-facto leader, was testing the loyalty of BN MPs.

"He is only testing the waters to check whether any MPs would leave the coalition. So far, none has done so," said the deputy prime minister.

"If he (Anwar) cannot form a government by Sept 16, it will be a big blow to his credibility as a leader."

When asked on the 2010 transition of power between him and Abdullah, Najib said the timeline was decided after both of them took into account collective views on the matter.

Najib, who is also Umno deputy president, added that the supreme council did not object to the transition plan.

Najib also responded to Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's concern that the transition period was too long by saying that it was a collective decision.

"I respect his view, but in the end, we have to make a collective decision and, this is what the Umno supreme council has done."