The Citizens' Declaration, which is to be submitted to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, may have gathered a million signatures but there is little that the monarch can do about it, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

The declaration, initiated by the Save Malaysia movement, calls for the removal of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

However, Salleh said there is no legal provision for the Agong to do this.

"While in a democracy that (petition) is allowed, however, according to the law or the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, there is very little His Majesty can do about this petition.

"There is no provision in the constitution that allows the Agong to sack a prime minister.

"The prime minister’s own party has to do that (like in the case of then Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim) or MPs from the prime minister’s own party have to cross over to the opposition (like in the case of Perak Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin)," Salleh said in a blog posting today.

'Gov't often told to respect constitution'

He said while the government is often told to respect and observe the constitution, those who oppose the government must also walk the same talk.

"The constitution very specifically says that the member of the House who commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the House gets to become prime minister.

"In that same spirit, if the prime minister loses the confidence of the majority members of the House then he has to step down as prime minister.

"This means not just the prime minister but (if) the party that the prime minister leads is ousted and the party from the other side gets to form the new government," he said.

Among the ways to achieve this is through a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister or for members of the ruling coalition to cross over to the opposition.

"Other than that, His Majesty’s hands will be tied," Salleh added.