DAP party whip Anthony Loke has insisted that Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had indeed circulated a statutory declaration (SD) against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Despite Tengku Razaleigh's denial , Loke said a representative from Tengku Razaleigh had been circulating the SD between July and September last year.

“All the opposition leaders know about this, and someone had even gone to see him. If he now wants to deny it, there is nothing we can do. That's his business.

“The SD definitely existed. There is an effort to get MPs' support on this. Tengku Razaleigh's camp had also asked us (DAP) to sign it,” the Seremban MP told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

The timing coincides with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's remarks in August last year that an ' old man ' was plotting to topple Najib through statutory declaration from MPs, but had since repented .

At the time, Tengku Razaleigh, affectionately known as Ku Li, has neither confirmed nor denied a plot but said he still supports Najib.

Meanwhile, Loke ( photo ) said not a single DAP parliamentarian would sign the SD, unless there are enough parliamentarians supporting it to achieve a simple majority in the House.

Asked if Tengku Razaleigh had been lying, he paused, and then said, “I don't want to say that he is lying, just that (we are) disappointed.”

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had previously revealed that Tengku Razaleigh had been plotting a no-confidence motion to oust Najib.

He lamented that the Gua Musang MP not only failed to live up to his promise, but had also signed a declaration supporting Najib.

Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman had dismissed Mahathir's claims of an anti-Najib SD as a tall tale , but this prompted a rebuttal from Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong who posted an unsigned copy of the SD on his Facebook account.

The SD expresses lack of confidence in Najib's leadership and back Tengku Razaleigh as prime minister.

Tengku Razaleigh had said he has no knowledge of the document.