Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Anwar Ibrahim has been granted an audience with Malaysia's King today, amid speculation that his party may no longer be part of the government if purported plans by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to form a new ruling pact are successful.
Datuk Seri Anwar's political secretary, Mr Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, confirmed Datuk Seri Anwar's meeting with Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin, reported the Malay Mail, but he said the meeting had been "scheduled a long time ago" and was meant to provide normal political updates.
Speculation about the plan by Tun Dr Mahathir heightened yesterday after several parties from both sides of the aisle held top-level meetings, apparently to garner the support of a majority of lawmakers for the scheme.
The new coalition is said to include Dr Mahathir's Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and opposition parties Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), but could leave out Pakatan Harapan (PH) allies PKR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Amanah Negara, according to political sources.
Leaders and MPs from PPBM met at their headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, yesterday morning for around six hours.
Meanwhile, about a dozen ministers and MPs aligned to a rival faction within PKR led by the party's deputy president Azmin Ali, who is also Economic Affairs Minister, held a meeting at a hotel nearby.
A party insider told The Straits Times that the plan is for those aligned to Mr Azmin to leave PKR, which has 50 MPs - the largest number of MPs in Parliament. The insider said PPBM, which has 26 MPs, may leave PH.
A lawmaker aligned to Mr Anwar, who is meant to take over from Dr Mahathir as prime minister, dismissed the speculation yesterday, saying: "I don't think they have enough numbers." A new coalition will need at least 112 MPs - a majority of the 222 seats in Parliament - to form a government.
It is understood that PPBM and Mr Azmin's team from PKR will make up the numbers by joining forces with the Umno-led opposition coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), and PAS.
The leadership of Umno and PAS - the country's biggest Malay-Muslim parties which formed a political pact last year - were attending a retreat over the weekend at the hillside resort of Janda Baik, just outside Kuala Lumpur, where the government change was believed to have been discussed.
Umno also held a Supreme Council meeting yesterday afternoon.
The two parties have openly backed Dr Mahathir to stay on, amid calls from Mr Anwar's supporters for the 94-year-old Premier to make way for his designated successor, Mr Anwar.
It is said that the new government, if successfully formed, will comprise 41 MPs from BN, 26 from PPBM, 18 from PAS, nine from PH ally Parti Warisan Sabah, 19 from opposition Gabungan Parti Sarawak and 10 from PKR, totalling 123 MPs.
Five party presidents and one deputy president were granted an audience with Malaysia's King at the palace yesterday evening to discuss the transition.
If the plan succeeds, Mr Anwar will not be able to command sufficient support to take over as prime minister. His PKR will be left with 40 MPs, while the other remaining PH parties DAP, with 42 MPs, and Amanah, which has 11 MPs, will no longer be part of the government.
