Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim's bid to helm the country remains in limbo, after the Palace announced yesterday that the King would not be granting anyone an audience for a week.
"His Majesty has been advised by his doctors to remain at (hospital) for seven days for observation. So until then, he will not have any meetings," palace comptroller Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Datuk Seri Anwar announced on Wednesday that he had secured a "formidable" majority of lawmakers in Parliament to oust Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, but needs to convince the King that he has the numbers to form a government.
Under the Constitution, the King can appoint a prime minister whom he sees as likely to command a majority in Parliament.
He can also dissolve Parliament and call for elections on the current prime minister's advice.
Mr Anwar was scheduled to meet the King, Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin, on Tuesday, but the meeting was postponed after the ruler was admitted to the National Heart Institute for an undisclosed ailment.
Meanwhile, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, whose Perikatan Nasional (PN) pact has been governing since March with a razor-thin majority in the Lower House, reiterated that he remains Prime Minister and continued to cast doubt on how much support Mr Anwar has garnered.
"So far, I haven't been summoned (by the King) so I don't need to react hastily to such things," he said yesterday at a campaign rally in Sabah.
Mr Muhyiddin said he had raised the matter with Attorney-General Idrus Harun, who confirmed that he was still Prime Minister.
Mr Anwar's backers are said to include several lawmakers from Umno, the largest party in PN.
Umno's ally, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which is also part of the PN government, yesterday sought clarification on these claims. It said if the claims were true, then Umno, its partner in their Muafakat Nasional pact, had breached their agreement to unite Muslims in the country and defeat Pakatan Harapan, the opposition coalition led by Mr Anwar.
"If the move is real, it could be seen as a plan to topple the Perikatan Nasional government," PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said in a statement.
"PAS hopes to get a clear explanation from Umno," he added.
A list of Umno MPs allegedly supporting Mr Anwar had made its rounds on social media, but the lawmakers in question have denied that they are jumping ship.
At present, Mr Muhyiddin's PN coalition, hastily cobbled together during a coup in February, rules with a majority of just 113 seats in the 222-seat Parliament.
Mr Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat yesterday demanded that Mr Muhyiddin step down.
"Tan Sri Muhyiddin should respectfully step down and resign as Malaysia's prime minister, seeing that the majority support of MPs has now shifted to Anwar Ibrahim," PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said.
Meanwhile Tan Sri Annuar Musa, secretary-general of the Umno-led Barisan Nasional alliance, said yesterday that Mr Anwar was being manipulated to trigger a snap election.
"I believe (Anwar) has been made into bait, to hasten the general election. Nothing more than that. That's what we call politics," he posted on Twitter.
