Perak DAP vice-president Abdul Aziz Bari has deemed accusations that he is the mastermind behind the alleged plot to ouster state Menteri Besar (MB) Ahmad Faizal Azumu "illogical", saying he lacked the necessary influence over state politicians to orchestrate such a manoeuvre.

The Tebing Tinggi assemblyperson, who has since been questioned by the MACC over the matter, said that such a move would require a motion of no-confidence, which in turn requires assenting votes from over 30 assemblypersons.

"Perak is never truly free of gossip related to toppling the state government, seeing that it is the only state which switched administrations as seen in 2009.

"It would be illogical for me as an exco member to act in that manner.

"A motion of no-confidence is no easy feat. It needs the agreement of more than 30 assemblypersons. Do I truly wield that much influence, is that logical?

"If that was the case, then there would be no need for me to be the MB given that I would have that much power," he was quoted as saying in an interview published by the New Straits Times (NST) today.

As such, he queried why no one, including himself, had moved a motion of no-confidence up until the assembly had concluded.

"The people can judge as to what is real or not," Abdul Aziz, who is also state Education, Technology, Science, Environment and Information exco, added.

He further laughed off claims he would be seeking the assistance of the Sultan of Perak with the support of influential people from Putrajaya.

Necessary meetings

Abdul Aziz was responding to allegations by Perak opposition leader Saarani Mohamad, who claimed that five Umno assemblypersons have made statutory declarations claiming to have met with Abdul Aziz to discuss the plot.

According to the NST, two of them claimed to have been offered executive council roles or positions in government-linked companies.

To this, Abdul Aziz stated that his role as state exco on education necessitated him meeting with both state government and opposition assemblypersons, as many constituencies require state aid.

He added: “So if they don’t like me meeting opposition assemblyperson, I can stop doing so.

"But have a heart for the innocent people in the respective constituencies. They are still Perakians and deserve help from the state."

Abdul Aziz opined that the opposition had planned such distractions, now in the form of the MB ouster allegations, before the 14th general election as they had predicted that BN would lose the state.

He claimed this was done to divert attention away from various state scandals such as those involving the Public Accounts Committee, Menteri Besar Incorporated and Movie Animation Park Studios.

It was reported recently that the Perak MACC would also be calling up six assemblypersons again to record their statements over the ouster plot investigations, along with Faizal if necessary.

To date, Abdul Aziz, Saarani, Alor Pongsu assemblyperson Sham Mat Sahat, Rungkup assemblyperson Shahrul Zaman Yahya, Bota assemblyperson Khairul Shahril Mohamed, Bukit Chandan assemblyperson Maslin Sham Razman, and Lubuk Merbau assemblyperson Dr Jurij Jalaluddin have reportedly been called up.