KUALA LUMPUR – The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has called on citizens to remain patient as the political turmoil in the nation continues on.
Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah also stressed that the caretaker government remains functional and is operating as per normal.
“We must have patience. These things take time (to settle),” the ruler told reporters who have been stationed outside the Istana Negara here from as early as 9am.
The king added that he will not be making any statements today, requesting media members to refer to official statements by the Istana Negara instead.
About 20 minutes before the ruler’s visit to the press camping outside of Istana Negara, Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said in a statement that the deadline to submit a prime minister candidate and coalitions to form the federal government has been pushed to 2pm tomorrow (November 22).
The details were supposed to be submitted by coalition and party leaders to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun by 2pm today.
Earlier today, caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) vice president, had requested that the Istana Negara extend the deadline as no political collaborations can be finalised today.
Following the results of the 15th general elections (GE15), no single coalition managed to obtain the necessary numbers to form the government.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) and BN leaders met at Seri Pacific Hotel today, in a meeting attended by PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and other figures from the coalition, as well as BN chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and 25 other BN lawmakers.
PH managed to secure 82 parliamentary seats in GE15, making it the largest single bloc, followed by Perikatan Nasional which won 73 federal seats, while BN only managed to garner 30 wins. – The Vibes, November 21, 2022
