(Aug 18): Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has denied he is the "elderly" Barisan Nasional (BN) leader said to be leading a plot to topple the government, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Tengku Razaleigh's aide told the Chinese-language newspaper that the Gua Musang MP had been at home on Sunday night and did not visit Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The long-serving lawmaker's denial comes after Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said there was an elderly leader heading such a plot by using a statutory declaration (SD).

On Sunday, Zahid had said that the person leading a movement to overthrow the government through such means was a senior BN leader who was quite "elderly", but "his ambition was never small".

He said the leader in question could deny it, but would feel the heat from the accusation.

Zahid said the leader had repented and would meet with Najib, who is Umno president, that same evening.

Meanwhile, a poster naming 20 BN lawmakers as being part of the plot to topple the government has been circulating online.

Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who was among the 20 named, told Sinar Harian that he believed the allegations came from within Umno itself.

"This is the work of Umno people who want to tear their own party apart. They see that the party is weak and they deliberately want to worsen the situation," he was quoted as saying.

Parit Sulong MP Datuk Noraini Ahmad echoed his views.

"I believe that there are certain quarters that want to create conflict and split us apart," she told Sinar Harian.

Five other parliamentarians have similarly denied being a part of the plot: Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Datuk Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, Kudat MP Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, and Pasir Gudang MP Normala Abdul Samad.

Talk of moves to unseat Najib has come about amid intense pressure on the prime minister, who is also Umno president, to explain the RM2.6 billion transferred to his personal accounts in early 2013.

The funds have been called a political donation, but this has given rise to debate over whether Najib alone should be holding such funds on behalf of the party, who they were from, and what they were used for, and what has happened to the balance of the funds after part of it was used for BN's campaign in the last general election.

At the same time, Najib's is also under pressure over his brainchild, government-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which has been accused of financial wrongdoing. – The Malaysian Insider