The opposition then walked out of parliament in protest, but Mr O'Neill said the acting speaker followed proper procedure.

"He followed the process today, it wasn't as if the process was hijacked," he said.

"He (the acting speaker) determined the matter that needed to be dealt with. He saw it was defective, he rejected it."

Mr O'Neill said if he had lost the vote, he would have resigned.

Opposition leader Don Polye said the opposition would rewrite the motion and submit it again.

"We will look at the reasons and make an immediate resubmission of the motion to the acting speaker," he said.

"We will not give up, we will continue to file the motion of no confidence in the prime minister Peter O'Neill."

Mr Polye said MPs needed the chance to properly debate the motion.

"We know he has forced members of parliament, luring them, forcing them to vote for himself," he said.

"We know that is not real, that is fake, the support really doesn't exist.

"He is doing all that he can to hold on to power."

Mr O'Neill urged the opposition to abandon the attempt, saying MPs should focus instead on the upcoming national budget.

"We don't want this matter to drag into next week," he said.

"The only responsible thing to do is dispose of it immediately so the members can have the opportunity to express their views."