Mahathir to meet with Agong on Thursday, other party leaders yet to receive invitations

KUALA LUMPUR: Rumour has it that all political party leaders will be called separately for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah concerning the country's current situation.

Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) Information chief Ulya Aqamah Husamudin, for one, said that the party chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will be called for an audience with the King on Thursday.

"The official letter from the palace was received last week. However, the time for the audience has yet to be ascertained," he told Bernama when contacted here today.

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan and MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon, when asked the same question, said they had no information on the matter, while Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai and MIC president Tan Sri S. A. Vigneswaran, said they had not received any invitation from Istana Negara regarding an audience with Al-Sultan Abdullah.

UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, on the other hand, said he was not sure whether or not UMNO had received such an invitation.

"I heard so. But I have not been to the office...I'm not so sure whether UMNO has received such a letter or not," he said.

On a different note, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told Bernama to refer the matter Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who is a member of a committee for ending the Emergency declaration.

"Refer to Khairuddin...he might have more information than us," he said.

On Feb 9, the Prime Minister's Office announced the appointment of 19 members of the committee, chaired by former Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria.

Other members include former Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai, former Chief of Defence Force Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, former Health director-general Prof Tan Sri Dr Mohamad Taha Arif and former Sabah state secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman.

The committee was set up under Section 2 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 and will advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the ongoing Emergency and when it should end.

The National Security Council and the Prime Minister's Department will be secretariats for this committee.

-- BERNAMA