The Comptroller of Istana Negara Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said this is because only the Rulers or Sultans of various states are invited to the meeting. — Malay Mail photo
KUCHING (Nov 24): There are no Sarawak representative at the Special Meeting of the Malay Rulers that is being held at the Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur to decide on who will be the next prime minister.
The Comptroller of Istana Negara Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said this is because only the Rulers or Sultans of various states are invited to the meeting.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 10.30am and expected to last at least three hours.
The special meeting is held to enable the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to seek the views of the Malay rulers concerning the formation of the new federal government.
Al-Sultan Abdullah had granted separate audiences to Barisan Nasional (BN) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) representatives at Istana Negara yesterday.
On Tuesday, Al-Sultan Abdullah summoned Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for separate audiences at the palace, after submissions by party and coalition leaders revealed that no Member of Parliament had received the majority support to be appointed as the 10th prime minister.
The GE15 on Saturday ended with no party obtaining a simple majority of at least 112 seats in the 222-seat Parliament to form the new Government, hence the hung Parliament.
PH garnered the highest number of parliamentary seats with 82, followed by PN (73), BN (30), GPS (23), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (six), Warisan (three), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (one) and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (one), along with two independents.