YANG di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has given Malaysia’s 10th prime minister (PM) hopefuls another 24 hours to get their affairs in order and finalise the numbers they need to form a coalition government.
In a statement today, the National Palace said the King decreed that all political parties are to submit the names of their respective PM candidates and any post-15th General Elections (GE15) pacts by 2pm tomorrow (Nov 22), extending today’s 2pm deadline by one day.
The previous deadline was set by the National Palace yesterday (Nov 20) following the results of Saturday’s (Nov 19) national polls, which led to a hung Parliament as no single party won a simple majority to form the next government.
According to comptroller of the royal household Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, Sultan Abdullah consented to this change in plans following requests the National Palace received today from the heads of various political parties and coalitions.
“In this connection, His Majesty pleads and advises all Malaysians to be patient and calm until the process of the formation of the government and nominations of the 10th PM of Malaysia is over.”
Ahmad Fadil added that Sultan Abdullah wished to highlight that the country’s administrations are being carried out as normal under the management of the caretaker government led by caretaker PM Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“The King calls on the rakyat to collectively pray so that the process of the formation of the new government and nominations for the 10th PM of Malaysia goes off without a hitch, in the national interest,” he said further.
“His Majesty also appeals to all Malaysians to pray, together, so that Malaysia is blessed and protected from any form of disaster or calamity.”
Although Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the most number of seats in GE15 (82) – followed by Perikatan Nasional/PN (73), Barisan Nasional/BN (30) and “kingmaker” Gabungan Parti Sarawak/GPS (22) – no single party or coalition wrested 112 seats for a simple majority, leading to intense political horse-trading to be the first to form a multi-coalition government.
Earlier today, BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the coalition’s soon-to-be-sworn-in MPs have unanimously agreed to write to Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun and request that he extend today’s 2pm deadline, on the back of rampant speculation that a national BN-PH bloc has been formed.
They wrote to Azhar as it was he who the National Palace sought assistance from to request from all political party and coalition chiefs about the identity of their respective soon-to-be federal lawmakers’ pick for PM, through statutory deductions (SDs).
Meanwhile, PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the coalition has already submitted their SDs to the King, where they said they wanted PN chairman and former PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to hold the country’s top office once more.
“The number of SDs submitted is more than 112, which is a (simple) majority in the Dewan Rakyat that is needed to appoint a PM as per Article 43 of the Federal Constitution,” Hamzah said in a brief statement this afternoon.
It is worth mentioning that although GPS yesterday claimed it had formed a bloc with PN, BN and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to form a coalition government, BN has staunchly denied this, raising doubt over PN’s supposed numbers. – Nov 21, 2022
