King to decide 'soon' on new gov't in Malaysia

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah of Malaysia announced on Tuesday that he will be making a decision on the new government soon.

“I’ll make a decision soon,” Sultan Abdullah said, about forming the new government.

“Please be rational, we have to move on. We have to move forward for our beloved nation,” Sultan Abdullah added. “Let me make the decision as soon as possible,” according to Free Malaysia Today website.

Malaysia held its 15th general elections this weekend with a hung parliament of 222 seats.

It is the first time in the country’s 59-year history that Malaysia saw a hung parliament following the Nov. 19 general elections.

The National Front, or Barisan Nasional (BN), with 30 seats appears to play the “king maker’s” role in forming any new government.

As the hectic parleys go on in the Southeast Asian nation, the Anwar Ibrahim-led Alliance of Hope or Pakatan Harapan (PH) appears to have secured the support of at least 86 lawmakers.

A party or a coalition needs the support of at least 112 lawmakers to form the government.

Ismail Sabri, the BN leader and former prime minister, however, said the coalition has decided not to support any coalition to form the government.

“So far, BN has agreed to remain as the opposition,” he said, hinting the mood may change.

The other bloc National Alliance (Perikatan Nasional – PN), led by Muhyiddin Yassin who resigned as prime minister Monday, secured 51 seats and has support from Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam Se Malaysia – PAS) which has 22 seats.

Besides, Sarawak Parties Alliance (Gabungan Parti Sarawak – GPS) with 23 seats had indicated it may also support a coalition of the PN and BN with Yassin as premier but there is no final decision yet.

PH, PN, and BN are different alliances comprising smaller political parties. These alliances were expected to submit proposals to form the government to the king on Tuesday afternoon, who is the final decision-making authority over the establishment of the new administration, according to the constitution.