Malaysia king asks parties with most seats won to present their numbers by Monday afternoon

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has asked the coalitions with the most number of seats won in the 15th General Election (GE15) to keep the palace informed about their cooperation arrangements to form the next government.

In a statement issued on Sunday (Nov 20), Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara, Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, said that the palace has requested the help of Dewan Rakyat speaker Azizan Harun to reach out to the leaders of political parties and coalitions.

“The leaders of the political parties and coalitions will be asked by the Dewan Rakyat speaker to inform about the coalitions that have been agreed respectively as well as the name of one Dewan Rakyat member who has received the majority support of this coalition to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia to Istana Negara before 2pm on Nov 21,” he said. 

Mr Ahmad Fadil said that in line with Articles 40(2)(a) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, the king’s decree and decision on the formation of the new government was final.

“The king advises the people and leaders of political parties to accept and respect the democratic process and accept the results of the 15th General Election with a calm and open mind in order to preserve the integrity of the country as it is an inheritance in which elected leaders act as trustees,” he said.

Mr Ahmad Fadil said that the king had received the results of GE15 from the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday, with EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh noting that no political party has managed to win a simple majority to form the government.

“The king would like to remind that the country needs a government that is stable, authoritative and has integrity to protect the people and drive the nation’s welfare agenda,” he said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Azhar Harun said on Sunday that he had issued letters to the leaders of political parties and coalitions regarding the matter. 

“They were also asked to nominate a prime minister candidate through a statutory declaration from each member of the Dewan Rakyat,” he said in a statement. 

There are 222 seats in the Lower House and any governing coalition needs to have control of at least 112 seats.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) are both in pole position to form the next government, winning 81 and 73 seats respectively.

All eyes are now on closed-door talks with potential partners, including the parties based in Sabah and Sarawak as well as Barisan Nasional (BN). 

In a Facebook post on Sunday, PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said that a meeting has been held with Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Abang Johari Abang Openg to discuss the formation of a federal government. 

PAS is a component party of PN. 

Mr Muhyiddin also said that negotiations are also being held with other parties and independent Members of Parliament (MPs). 

“God willing, a federal government can be formed soon,” said the former prime minister.

In one of the most fiercely contested elections in Malaysian history with over 900 candidates vying for a seat in the parliament, GPS managed to win 22 seats while Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) won six seats. They are now seen as potential kingmakers.

BN finished a distant third behind PH and PN, winning 30 parliamentary seats.