Should the 45 non-Umno BN MPs withdraw their support from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the latter's government would collapse immediately, said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

He said the 45 non-Umno BN MPs should do so in view of their opposition to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's attempt to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355), which is supported by Umno.

BN component parties should realise by now that Umno's fervour in facilitating Abdul Hadi's private member's bill should be seen as an attempt to subvert BN's consensus model, said Lim.

Even if PAS' 14 MPs decide to support Najib, they and Umno's 86 MPs will not be enough to make up the necessary numbers to form a new government.

"With the withdrawal of support of the 25 Sarawak BN MPs and the rest of 20 BN MPs, there will be a political and constitutional crisis in Malaysia

"The solution is for the formation of a new government and (to appoint) a new prime minister who respects the principle of consensus and rejects the principle of Umno hegemony.

"Or the 14th general election would have to be held early to resolve the constitutional crisis," he said in a statement today.

He added that it should be clear to BN component parties that the coalition had "changed character" and no longer subscribed to the consensus model, as Umno had ignored their opposition to amending Act 355.

The new Sarawak BN head Abang Johari Tun Openg had affirmed last month that Sarawak BN will not support Abdul Hadi's bill while other BN component parties had been saying the same since last year.

Abdul Hadi's bill might be debated during the current Dewan Rakyat sitting, although there is a possibility it would be postponed to another sitting yet again.