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Malaysia's Agong handed out food to waiting journalists after extending by 24 hours the deadline for political parties to assemble proposed governments.

Hold the line

Malaysia's Agong, or King, made his way to the gates of the Istana Negara on Nov. 21, according to this video shared by the Malaysia Gazette.

TERKINI Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah menunjukkan keprihatinan baginda kepada petugas media apabila menyerahkan bungkusan makanan kepada petugas media di luar pintu dua Istana Negara sebentar tadi#MalaysiaGazette #PascaPRU15 pic.twitter.com/f2ouK2MhBM

— Malaysia Gazette (@MalaysiaGazette) November 21, 2022

The journalists were gathered around Gate Two of the Istana Negara, waiting as the 2pm deadline for Malaysia's political parties to submit their proposals to form governments came and went.

Malaysia's GE15 election resulted in a hung parliament, with neither the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions gaining outright majorities.

PH gained the most overall seats with 82, and PN has the largest party in the form of PAS who has 44 seats. PN has 73 seats.

But with the deadline looming, PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders met in Kuala Lumpur, and talks appear to be inconclusive but progressing.

According to Free Malaysia Today, caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob of BN said that at around noon, they were seeking an extension to the Agong's deadline. But he also said that no negotiations had taken place between BN and PH, and that BN MPs had no signed statutory declarations backing PH's Anwar Ibrahim to be PM.

Love isn't always on time

At 1.35pm, 25 minutes before the official deadline passed, the Istana Negara's Facebook page released a statement saying that the Agong had extended the deadline by 24 hours until 2pm on Nov. 22.

Calling on the people to be calm, the statement also noted that the country continued to be governed as usual by the caretaker government of Ismail Sabri.

Just after the statement was released, the Agong arrived at Gate Two to present members of the press with bento boxes.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah sempat melihat menu makanan untuk diberi kepada petugas media yang membuat liputan di depan pintu 2 Istana Negara menunggu kehadiran ketua parti bagi mengemukan calon Perdana Menteri. FOTO ASWADI ALIAS pic.twitter.com/FnJi4SAFAn

— Harian Metro (@hmetromy) November 21, 2022

This has become a staple of Malaysian political crises. The last time this happened was during the Sheraton Move, where the Agong did not personally appear, but sent staff to hand out McDonald's meals to waiting journalists.

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Top Image by @hmetromy/Twitter