ANALYSIS Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said he would even drive a lorry to present the palace with one million signatures urging Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s resignation, but analysts said the move would likely have little impact.

Political analyst Prof Jeniri Amir said this is because Najib can simply argue that there are more than 30 million Malaysians who did not support the Save Malaysia movement calling for his resignation.

"It can be a good attempt to show the sultan the people's unhappiness (with Najib).

"But we have heard this narrative and argument before (from BN) since the Citizens' Declaration was signed, 'there are more people who does not support it'," Jeniri told Malaysiakini .

He was commenting on Mahathir's reported remarks at the People's Congress yesterday, that the Save Malaysia movement will be touring the country and collect one million signatures to support its declaration by year end.

The former premier had urged the public to have no fear of possible repercussions and quipped that he would even personally drive a lorry to the palace, to present all the signed documents.

Commenting further, Jeniri said the move is also unlikely to work as long as Najib still has a firm hold of the Umno MPs and grassroots.

"If you want to remove someone, do it the right way. Why do you need to drag in the palace?

"If you want to remove someone (as prime minister), the best way would be to wait for the general election," said Jeniri, who is Universiti Malaysia Sarawak's social science faculty dean.

Similarly, political analyst Prof Ahmad Atory Hussain also downplayed the possible impact of a royal intervention on Najib.

Atory told Malaysiakini that Najib can also argue that he was appointed as prime minister based on the people's votes, and not the palace.

"On the part of Tun (Mahathir) and the others, they can seek an audience with the sultan... put pressure on Najib, but the outcome is not likely to be favourable.

"There is not much impact that they can hope for," he said.

Snap polls unlikely

Both Jeniri and Atory concurred that the best solution to remove Najib would be to wait until the next 14th general elections.

Asked whether Najib's critics should have instead pushed him to dissolve Parliament and call for snap polls, Jeniri ( photo ) said either way it is unlikely that the Umno president will bow down to external pressures.

"I don't think any leaders today would dissolve the Parliament based on external pressures. Even Mahathir when he was in power refused to do so," he added.

Atory, meanwhile, said that to call for snap polls in the current situation would be a very "high risk" move for Umno.

"It will be an unpopular move. Very high risk for Umno-BN because the mandate is still with Umno for the next two years," he said.

Leaders who spoke at the People's Congress yesterday had argued that the people can no longer afford to wait, fearing further repercussions from impact of Najib's alleged financial scandals.

The gathering saw 19 speakers from across political divides and civil society groups coming together to call for Najib's resignation.

Najib himself has consistently denied all allegations linked to funds deposited into his personal accounts.