The king of Malaysia will personally interview all of the country's MPs one by one to ascertain who commands the majority of parliament to become the next prime minister.

So far, 90 MPs have already been called to the palace starting 2.30pm, comptroller of the royal family Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said in a special media briefing at Istana Negara on Feb. 25.

The rest of the MPs will be called tomorrow.

“The interview process will be done by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong, his majesty himself, and will be accompanied by Chief Secretary Datuk Seri Zuki Mohd Ali,” he told the press.

He said that all the MPs will get two or three minutes of audience with the sovereign and the entire interview process today is expected to conclude by 7pm.

Ahmad Fadil said the process will be done under Article 43(2) of the Federal Constitution, which handles the formation of the Cabinet.

First of its kind

Ahmad Fadil said such an interview process, the first of its kind in Malaysia was triggered as the Palace had to ensure that the process is done in a transparent manner as befitting the country’s constitution and laws as well as to stop wild speculations.

"This is done transparently so that the media does not speculate about what is happening," he said.

“It is not known how long this process will take but we will keep in contact (with the media) from time to time.”

The country is in political turmoil with the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration on Feb. 24 after Langkawi MP Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as prime minister and resigned from his PPBM party post.

The Agong accepted Mahathir’s resignation and then appointed him as interim prime minister.

Following the king’s decision, Mahathir proceeded to dissolve his Cabinet.

It is widely understood among political observers and regular Malaysians that this episode will lead to Mahathir's consolidation of power, which would see him enjoy bipartisan support and essentially give him a free hand in picking a new Cabinet.

This is so as it is difficult to imagine any MP saying they do not pledge support to Mahathir and risk being cut out of government.

Background

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa confirmed today that his party has formed a coalition with several others and have enough numbers to form a government.

Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the party was pulling out of PH, leaving the coalition with 92 out of 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) and short of the 112 simple majority needed to continue as the government.

PKR also sacked their deputy president Azmin Ali and vice president Zuraida Kamaruddin over their role in organising a meeting with Umno and PAS MPs on Sunday.

Azmin then proceeded to announce that he and 10 other PKR MPs have exited the party to form a new “independent bloc” in Parliament.

On the same day, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng lashed out at the rogue MPs, accusing them of pursuing their own political ambitions but voice their support to Mahathir to remain as the prime minister.

Top photo via Bernama