The Pakatan Harapan presidential council rubbished the prime minister’s claim, saying it would be impossible for him to command majority support based on the number of MPs that had rejected his leadership.

“We are of the view that stern action must be taken against the fraud committed at the highest level by not speaking the truth and misleading the King,” it said in a statement.

The council said the matter can be confirmed by holding a special sitting of Parliament to debate and decide on a no-confidence vote against Muhyiddin.

“The act of postponing the confidence vote until September is highly inappropriate. The issue of support for Mahiaddin (Muhyiddin) and the stability of the Perikatan Nasional government must be decided now,” it said.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin said he would not quit despite being pressured to do so, adding that he had received statutory declarations from MPs that “convinced me I still enjoy majority support at this time”.

Umno, however, insisted that Muhyiddin was wrong to claim that he still commanded majority support.

Its president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said Perikatan Nasional had previously claimed that 114 MPs were backing the administration.

He said he had on July 30 presented eight statutory declarations to the King that they had retracted support for Muhyiddin on July 30.

“This is sufficient to show that Muhyiddin has lost the majority, even though the actual figure is more than that,” he said.