KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian king will meet the 30 members of parliament from Barisan Nasional on Wednesday (Nov 23) morning, after a day of huddles with political party leaders failed to arrive at a decision on who should be the country's next prime minister.

Following Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah's meetings with Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim and his Perikatan Nasional counterpart Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, his palace said that the king will next meet the members of parliament at 10.30am on Wednesday.

Both prime minister hopefuls appear split on the monarch's call to form a unity government, with Mr Muhyiddin insisting that he would not work with Pakatan Harapan while Mr Anwar said that he would follow the king's wishes.

Before meeting the two coalition leaders, the king had met the various political parties and coalitions and received their proposals for the top job.

However, none of the candidates proposed has support from a simple majority of members of parliament, the king said on Tuesday.

Pakatan Harapan's chairman Anwar, at a media conference after the meeting, urged Malaysians to give the king time to make the final decision.

"The Agong has expressed his desire to have a strong government, inclusive of representatives from all regions, religions and races, which will allow it to focus on resolving the problems of the people and resuscitate the economy," he said.

Mr Anwar reiterated that there was no schedule given for the process.

"No timeline, that's (the appointment of prime minister) the sole discretion of Agong, and we will accept the decision."

Asked about Sultan Abdullah’s mandate to form a unity government, Mr Anwar said that the king had been consistent about wanting unity among the public.

"Agong has been consistently urging Malaysians to unite, even when Ismail Sabri was appointed and previously, Muhyiddin, but they had failed to do that.

"Unlike them, I will respect and follow (Agong's desire)," he added.

He also said that a minority government was not a consideration at the moment. 

At a press conference at his house later in the evening, Mr Muhyiddin said that the Perikatan Nasional coalition has made it clear that it would not work with Pakatan Harapan.

He also claimed that he had submitted the statutory declarations of 115 members of parliament to the National Palace the day before.

However, he claimed that the king told him on Tuesday that no party has managed to secure a majority to form the government.

"When I had the audience (with the king), I was told (the number) is not enough. I don't know the reasons for that but the proof is here.

"His Majesty suggested we cooperate with Pakatan Harapan to form a unity government but as we have discussed this many times, we will not cooperate with Pakatan Harapan," Mr Muhyiddin said. AGENCIES

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