After audience with Agong, political party leaders meet on PM candidate

KUALA LUMPUR: Leaders of political parties were today granted an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, as part of the process for determining the candidate for Malaysia's new prime minister following the resignation of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.

The two-hour audience, which began at Istana Negara at 2 pm, involved, among others, PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Pejuang president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Also present at the audience were PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal while the presidents of all component parties of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) attended online.

In their comments after the audience, Anwar, Muhkriz and Tuan Ibrahim said Al-Sultan Abdullah asked the parties to forge a consensus that prioritises the fight against COVID-19 and efforts to revive the national economy.

Earlier, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun issued a notice urging Members of Parliament (MPs) to each submit a statutory declaration (SD) on their choice of candidate for the ninth prime minister.

The SD must be submitted to Istana Negara by 4 pm tomorrow the latest or it would not be considered.

Several party leaders said their parties had held meetings to decide on the MP who has the majority support to be nominated for the post of prime minister.

Mukhriz said Pejuang would finalise its choice tomorrow while Tuan Ibrahim said PAS had prepared the SDs of all its MPs for presentation to His Majesty.

Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, in a statement, said the party was giving the full trust to Muhyiddin as party president to make the final decision on its choice.

In the case of UMNO, it is learnt that the party would decide on its PM candidate at its Supreme Council meeting tonight, which would be followed by a meeting with Barisan Nasional MPs.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin announced his resignation as prime minister in a special address over local television.

Istana Negara also issued a statement saying that the King had accepted the resignation of Muhyiddin and the entire Cabinet effective yesterday.

Speculation on the prime minister's resignation had swirled for several days after 15 UMNO MPs withdrew their support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Muhyiddin.

The latest political crisis was similar to what happened on Feb 24, 2020 when the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed following the resignation of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, leading to the formation of the PN government.

-- BERNAMA