Malaysia’s 15th General Election (GE15) has been heating up, as no party managed to secure a majority.
As a result, the king requested for the coalition and party leaders to form a government, and nominate a candidate for Prime Minister (PM) by today (21 Nov) at 2pm.
However, after former PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob sought an extension to the deadline, the king has approved an extension to 2pm tomorrow instead.
According to Malay Mail, Mr Ismail said that BN asked for a postponement as discussions with other coalitions might not conclude today.
Similarly, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told media outlets earlier that the party requested a deadline extension.
The BN supreme council had yet to discuss or agree on joining any coalitions, Mr Ahmad added.
Although leaders from BN and Pakatan Harapan (PH) met at a hotel that morning, Mr Ismail Sabri said that no agreement had been reached to form a coalition.
He asserted that they simply welcomed PH out of “hospitality”, as they were visiting a location next to the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) headquarters.
“No, we did not discuss anything. No negotiations. Guests visited our home, and as Malays, we entertained them, and chatted for a bit,” Mr Ismail said.
Earlier today, both Mr Ahmad, Mr Ismail, and other prominent figures met with PH leaders including Anwar Ibrahim, Mohamad Sabu, Anthony Loke, and Rafizi Ramli.
Leaders from the other parties have remained silent about the matter.
In the elections, the PH and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions claimed the most seats, with 82 and 73 respectively.
However, the governing coalition needs 112 seats in order to form the new government. There are 222 seats in the Lower House.
Previously, the leaders of both parties, Anwar Ibrahim and Muhyiddin Yassin, maintained that they have enough votes to form the government.
The claims came after they had negotiations with other parties.
In an update, Malay Mail reports Mr Anwar as saying he is confident that PH will be able to form a stable government with BN, contradicting earlier BN remarks.
“I am very pleased with the outcome of the meeting. We had seven representatives from BN to discuss the formation of a coalition of government under my leadership,” he said.
The contrasting remarks may be due to UMNO’s ideology being at odds with that of PH’s multiethnic composition. A similar issue exists between PH and PN, which rules out a supermajority government formed between the two coalitions.
However, a decision has to be made and that will hopefully be finalised at 2pm tomorrow.
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Featured image adapted from Istana Negara on Facebook.
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