MPs audience with king is to verify SDs - Ahmad Maslan

UMNO secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said it is to enable His Majesty to determine if the SDs were done voluntarily or otherwise.

"As for myself, I voluntarily proposed Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the Prime Minister candidate and I am very confident of his abilities.

"I was informed that only the group with numbers exceeding the winning margin was invited (to Istana Negara) and from what I've been informed, those who supported the second candidate were not invited for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," he told reporters at Menara Dato Onn lobby today.

Earlier, a group of UMNO Members of Parliament, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had boarded a bus to Istana Negara for an audience with the King.

Ahmad, who is Pontian MP, said the audience session was done in stages, with the first batch at 10 am, the second at 11.10 am, the third at 2 pm, the fourth at 3.10 pm and the fifth to be at 4.20 pm today.

He said his invitation for the audience was received via the Dewan Rakyat secretary yesterday.

"I was also given a list by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker this morning, (and) 114 MPs were invited for an audience," he said.

On Tuesday (Aug 17), all Dewan Rakyat lawmakers were instructed to submit their statutory declarations to nominate their prime minister candidate to Istana Negara by 4 pm yesterday.

The notice issued by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun to 220 MPs is to enable one of them who commands majority support to be appointed as Prime Minister after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation on Monday.

Meanwhile, Jempol (Negeri Sembilan) MP, Datuk Salim Sharif said during the audience, His Majesty asked all those present to introduce themselves and state the name of the leader they supported.

"The audience lasted about a minute for each member of parliament," he said when contacted by Bernama.

MIC Deputy President Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, who is also Tapah (Perak) MP, confirmed that the audience was for the King to verify the SDs.

"Tuanku wanted to know who we supported and to verify if the SDs were done voluntarily or otherwise," he said, adding that the group of MPs invited were those who supported Ismail Sabri as the ninth Prime Minister.

Tanjung Piai (Johor) MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jack Seng also confirmed receiving an invitation to Istana Negara to verify his SD.

MPs from Parti Gabungan Sarawak (GPS), meanwhile, participated in the audience session virtually from a hotel in Kuching, also for their SDs to be verified.

Santubong (Sarawak) MP and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said during the audience, His Majesty did not say when the new Prime Minister will be announced.

When contacted, PAS deputy president and Kubang Kerian (Kelantan) MP Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that the audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was only to submit and confirm their support through the SDs.

"His Majesty did not mention anything else," he said

Meanwhile, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) block has yet to receive an invitation for an audience with the King on the same matter.

PKR Strategic Communications Director and Lembah Pantai (KL) MP Fahmi Fadzil said there had been no invitation for PH MPs by Istana Negara.

"None at the moment, and if there is one (invitation for audience), we will inform," he told Bernama.

Amanah president Mohd Sabu also briefly replied "Not yet" via text when asked on the same matter.

Earlier, in a Twitter post, Bangi (Selangor) MP Ong Kian Ming said the Opposition had yet to be been invited to Istana Negara.

"Morning guys! In case anyone is wondering, no, my colleagues and I didn't get any calls to go to the Palace today... Have a nice day!," he said.

Several buses and vehicles carrying MPs have been seen entering Gate 2 of Istana Negara since this morning. The MPs were scheduled to have an audience with His Majesty to verify the SDs as to whom they were supporting to be the next Prime Minister.

All MPs were instructed to submit their statutory declarations to nominate their prime minister candidate to Istana Negara by 4 pm yesterday.

The notice issued by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun to 220 MPs is to enable one of them who commands majority support to be appointed as Prime Minister after Muhyiddin's resignation on Monday.