The government's draft bill to create mechanisms for the recall of MPs has been described by the Conservative backbencher Zac Goldsmith as "the worst and most misleading" piece of legislation he has seen.

Goldsmith used Twitter to lambast the bill, which would pave the way for MPs guilty of serious wrongdoing to be forced to stand down and face a byelection if enough constituents wanted them "recalled", saying he could not believe how far it was from "true" recall and calling on those who supported it to be recalled.

Ahead of an appearance on Thursday before a parliamentary committee that is scrutinising the bill, the MP said he could not support it in its current form and suggested many other Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrats would stand with him.

Under the plans, which were published in draft form in December, 10% of an MP's constituents would have to sign a petition for a byelection to happen. A petition process would be triggered either if an MP was sent to jail for a year or less or if a House of Commons committee decided an MP's behaviour warranted it.

However, Goldsmith told the Guardian a parliamentary committee should not be involved in the recall process at all and that the key decision should be taken by voters.

"Recall is usually taken to mean giving power back to voters," said the MP, who has been garnering a reputation as one of the rebellious backbenchers in the Tory party's ranks.

"It's about empowering voters, not parliamentary committees. The government's proposals are the opposite of what was intended and promised.

"In true recall, where a percentage of the voting population sign a petition, it immediately triggers a recall vote and people are asked if they want their representative to be recalled. If the answer is yes, there is then a byelection. It ends the safe seat situation, by allowing people to remove their MP, and to still replace them with someone of the same party."

He added that the bill in its current form will have satisfied a lot of supporters of the idea of recall, but the small print would reveal there was also the potential for abuse.

"It creates opportunities for the powers that be to rid themselves of inconvenient MPs," he said.

"What happens if an MP says something controversial, and is hounded by the press? The pressure on the committee to agree to the recall could be immense, even if constituents are supportive. The only people who should be in a position to initiate and trigger a recall are the voters themselves."

Currently, MPs convicted of an offence carrying a custodial sentence of more than a year are automatically disqualified from office and must resign. However, this rule does not apply to those given sentences of a year or less. Theoretically, they can remain in parliament. The former Labour MP, Eric Illsley, remained as an MP after he was convicted of expenses fraud in 2010 and only resigned shortly before he was sentenced to a year in prison.