It is final. Shahrir Abdul Samad has quit as the Backbenchers Club (BBC) head after igniting a controversy on whether government parliamentarians could support motions tabled by the opposition.

His peers in the BBC failed in their attempt to propose his re-election following a directive from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In what could be interpreted as an open revolt yesterday, the BBC had initially planned to re-elect Shahrir at a meeting scheduled for this morning.

However, the premier threw a spanner into the works yesterday by voicing his opposition.

Following this, the meeting was cancelled while BBC deputy chief Ahmad Zainuddin Omar (BN-Larut) is now the club's acting chief.

BBC secretary Rosli Mat Hassan (BN-Dungun) told reporters that he was asked to 'put off' the meeting by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who is also the BN whip last night.

"We will discuss with the whip or his deputy further. We respect the decision by the prime minister that there is no need for us to persuade and appeal for Shahrir's re-election," he said.

Bosses know better

Questioned on the BBC's stand yesterday that it need not consult the whip on all matters, he replied: "The whip is always supreme than us, because we are backbenchers and so far we are still governed by the whip. We must refer to the whip because we represent the party."

The visibly upset Rosli also sidestepped a question on whether he was disappointed with the premier and his deputy.

"Both of them are our bosses. They know how to do justice to us and they are in a better position to decide what to do," he said.

The BBC had also asked for discretionary powers to allow government MPs to vote based on conscience. However, Abdullah had ruled this out.

Shahrir quit as BBC chief last Thursday after backbenchers refused to vote in favour of an opposition motion regarding the alleged abuse of power by a BN parliamentarian.

The veteran politician clarified that he was not supporting the opposition but rather the principle that MPs should protect the integrity of Parliament and safeguard their dignity.

'Life is like that'

At a press conference today, Shahrir spoke at length on the dilemma of being a backbencher, where one had to choose between toeing the party line and representing the interest of voters.

"From the start, I have viewed the BBC as a BN organisation at the Parliament level. It is why my (BBC chief) office is located within the BN office," he said.

The Johor Bharu MP said he was not disappointed with the prime minister for rejecting the notion of voting based on conscience.

"I am not disappointed, life is like that, work within the rules and those who set the rules need to know when the rules (should be) changed," he added.

Shahrir also proposed that the BBC chief, like the BN whip, be appointed as opposed to the current practice of election.

Loose organisation

In another development, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz held a 30-minute meeting with the backbenchers to clarify the role of the office under the whip.

Nazri, who oversees parliamentary affairs, is the BN deputy whip.

"The BBC is always under the whip because it is a loose organisation from among those who are not appointed to sit on the front bench. Thus it is not right to say the club is not under the whip," he told a press conference later.

He also reiterated that there was no freedom for the backbenchers to vote according to their conscience.

"The whip is always in enforcement unless we inform the backbenchers that we have lifted the whip. For example, when we lifted the whip on a motion tabled by Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) on the unrest in southern Thailand, BN MPs were then allowed to support it," he said.

"We have to toe the party line because we (BN MPs) are all here because of BN. If anyone is not happy, we always give the option to that MP to resign and stand against us in the next general election," he added.

Nazri said the BBC's proposed meeting to re-elect Shahrir was cancelled to avoid making a mockery of the BN disciplinary system. .

This is because Shahrir would have been suspended based on precedent if the latter had not tendered his resignation first, clarified the minister, citing previous actions taken against deputy minister S Sothinathan, Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) and Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatang).

Asked whether the backbenchers' action yesterday amounted to an open defiance against the whip, he replied: "I don't know, what do you think?"