KUALA LUMPUR — Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders met at a Kuala Lumpur hotel on Monday (Nov 21) morning ahead of a 2pm deadline given by the king to form the government.

BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was among key arrivals in Monday's meeting.

United Malays National Organization’s (Umno) vice-presidents Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is the caretaker prime minister, and Khalid Nordin, secretary-general Ahmad Maslan, the party’s Sabah chairman Bung Moktar Radin, and Pengerang lawmaker Azalina Othman Said were the others spotted in the building. 

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail were among the PH representatives.

BN won only 30 seats, far behind PH’s 82 and Perikatan Nasional's (PN) 73 in the 222-seat lower house of Malaysia's parliament, making for a historic hung parliament despite a massive 15 million turnout at Saturday’s polls.

PH and BN have enough seats between them to make up a simple majority of 112 to be government.

The King of Malaysia has ordered the leaders of political parties to inform the national palace if they have agreed to enter into coalition to form the government by 2pm.

Leaders were also asked to submit the names of their prime ministerial candidates at the same time. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT