By John Burton in Kuala Lumpur
Published: June 18 2008 18:52
Last updated: June 18 2008 18:52
A small Malaysian party yesterday fired the opening shot in an campaign to topple the government of Abdullah Badawi by saying it would table the country's first ever no-confidence vote on Monday in spite of being a member of the ruling coalition.
The crossover of the Sabah Progressive Party to the opposition could trigger other defections by government members of parliament. The 14-party National Front coalition government has a slim 30-seat majority in the 222-member parliament.
Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, claims he has the numbers to bring down the government after the National Front coalition suffered its biggest electoral setback in March since taking power at independence in 1957.
Some analysts believe that it is unlikely that SAPP, which has only two MPs, would have called for no-confidence vote without consulting Mr Anwar. click here for detail: Malaysia to table first ever no-confidence vote Financial Times, UK
