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KUALA LUMPUR – The President of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, arrived at the national palace on Tuesday morning (October 13) for an audience with the king to discuss his claim to have majority support in Parliament. to form a new government.
In a Facebook post before their meeting, Datuk Seri Anwar wrote: “I hope everything goes well today.”
The opposition leader had claimed on September 23 that he had the backing of a “formidable” group of federal lawmakers to become the next prime minister.
He also claimed that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s seven-month government had “fallen.”
Anwar’s audience with Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin last month was delayed for three weeks, after the 61-year-old ruler was hospitalized for 12 days for food poisoning and several minor surgical procedures.
The constitutional monarch will play an important role in what will happen next in Malaysian politics.
Sultan Abdullah, if he is convinced that Anwar has the numbers, could ask Tan Sri Muhyiddin to resign, as permitted by the Constitution.
Alternatively, the monarch could consult Muhyiddin, 73, as acting prime minister, on whether he would like to call a new general election.
The King could also request that the Speaker of Parliament advance the next parliamentary session, currently scheduled for November 2, to hold a vote of confidence earlier.
PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said he had not yet received instructions on whether to hold a press conference later that day.
“I will provide all official information as soon as possible, when or if I receive instructions on the matter. I apologize for this as it is a rather unique and sensitive situation,” he told The Star.
In late February, when the government of then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad collapsed, Sultan Abdullah met with each of the 222 MPs to ask whom they would support as Malaysia’s eighth prime minister.
Muhyiddin had the highest number of deputies backing him at the time, so he was appointed prime minister on March 1.
Anwar, 73, has refused to give the exact number of MPs who support his attempt to form a new government, saying he must first show the list to Sultan Abdullah.
Anwar will need at least 112 MPs in the 222-seat parliament to claim control of the House.
Prior to Anwar’s claim last month of a shift in support for him, Muhyiddin had the support of 113 MPs.
Pakatan Harapan, the tripartite coalition led by Anwar, has a total of 91 deputies. In this bid for power, Anwar does not seek the support of a block of 15 opposition deputies, amidst the tensions between both parties.
This group is made up of the new Pejuang party of Tun Dr Mahathir (five MPs), the Sabah chieftain Shafie Apdal (nine MPs) and the young politician Syed Syed Abdul Rahman (one seat).
Therefore, Anwar would need to enlist the support of MPs in Muhyiddin’s flexible Perikatan Nasional alliance that includes Umno, Muhyiddin’s own Bersatu party, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak coalition, and other small parties in Sabah.
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