PAS' decision to submit a confidence motion for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has set tongues wagging in the political scene.

Publicly, PAS leaders have been coy what their game plan is beyond stating that they are confident Muhyiddin will survive such a vote.

A confidence vote and no-confidence vote only differ in wording as the outcome is the same which is to determine the fate of the prime minister.

Several mid-level Bersatu leaders who spoke to Malaysiakini appeared to be in the dark while the party's top echelon has yet to make a statement.

"We don't know [...] I've not received any information so I think I can't comment," said Bersatu's Sungai Besar MP Muslimin Yahya.

"I've not received information from the Bersatu leadership," added Bersatu supreme council member Muhammad Faiz Na'aman.

Faiz Na'aman

However, Faiz believed PAS only has good intentions for Muhyiddin who is also the Bersatu president. "We believe in their sincerity," he added.

On the opposition side, speculation is rife of a conspiracy in the works.

"I think it might be Muafakat Nasional's trick to push for snap elections.

"If they are sincere about supporting Muhyiddin, they should allow Langkawi MP Dr Mahathir Mohamad's motion of no-confidence to proceed and defeat it," said PKR's Tanjung Malim MP Chang Lih Kang.

Muafakat Nasional is an alliance between Umno and PAS. Some leaders in both parties are confident that BN and PAS can do well if a general election is called now, without the need for help from Bersatu.

Mahathir had in May submitted a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin.

Surprise move

Meanwhile, several PAS leaders who spoke to Malaysiakini said their party only wished to show support for Muhyiddin.

"We submitted the motion because we are confident the prime minister has enough support.

"This motion is to prove (the support) to those who are still disputing the prime minister's position, this even though they have already been reprimanded by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," said PAS' Kelantan deputy menteri besar Nik Amar Abdullah.

Asked if PAS had consulted its PN partners, he replied: "This is a PAS motion".

PAS information chief Kamaruzaman Mohamad likened the move to the motion the Islamist party had previously mooted when Mahathir was still the prime minister.

"It's the same concept. To show Parliament and the public that Muhyiddin has the majority to govern the country," he said.

Kamaruzaman Mohamad

Asked if such a motion could backfire if Muhyiddin failed to get a majority, Kamaruzaman dismissed the likelihood of failure.

"When we submit the motion, it means we are confident, God-willing, that the prime minister has enough of a majority to govern the country," he said.

PAS treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad also maintained that Muhyiddin would succeed in the confidence vote.

"Such a major decision will not come from PAS alone. PAS and Umno always meet through the Muafakat Nasional secretariat," he said.

Yesterday, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, who is also the de facto law minister, announced that PAS had submitted a motion of confidence in Parliament for Muhyiddin.

The move came as a surprise as the opposition had for months pushed for a no-confidence vote against Muhyiddin.

Both confidence and no-confidence votes entail the Dewan Rakyat voting in support or against Muhyiddin, the outcome showing whether the prime minister has a majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Based on the Parliament sitting in May, Muhyiddin is believed to have a two-seat majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

This later increased to three with the defection of Lubok Antu MP Jugah Muyang from PKR.

Negotiations have continued as both sides of the divide attempt to bolster their numbers in the Dewan Rakyat.

The House will next convene on July 13.

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Reporting by M Fakhrull Halim, Ramieza Wahid, Geraldine Tong and Annabelle Lee