No one, including the rakyat, has the power to tell the government when it should be dissolved but the prime minister, says Minister of Communications and Multimedia Salleh Said Keruak.
He said in a Westminster system of government, only the prime minister can decide when to call fresh polls.
As such, he said, calls of "people power" to change a government before an election are false.
"Whether the present government stays till mid-2018 or ends today is, therefore, entirely up to Prime Minister Najib (Abdul) Razak.
"The fallacy being created is that ‘people's power’ will decide. People's power can decide who gets to form the government through the ballot box.
"But people’s power does not decide when the government retires. The prime minister decides that and any action contrary to that would be called a "coup",” he said.
He echoes Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who yesterday reminded Malaysians that "people power" can only be exercised at the ballot box.
This comes after more than 100,000 people thronged central Kuala Lumpur to demand Najib’s resignation, in a 34-hour demonstration.
Najib first came serious pressure over brain child, state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which raked up debts of up to RM42 billion.
He was after that exposed of having received RM2.6 billion – an amount bigger than the Selangor state annual budget – into his personal account from a Middle East source.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is also investigating the transfer of RM42 million into Najib’s account from SRC International, a one-time 1MDB subsidiary.
Najib has denied that taking the funds for private use.
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