Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim met the Malaysian King yesterday after a three-week delay, to claim he has majority support to form a new government.

Datuk Seri Anwar said at a news conference later that he had passed "documents" to Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin as proof that he has 120 MPs behind him, in the 222-seat Parliament. But Sultan Abdullah threw a surprise, with the national palace saying that while Mr Anwar did say how many lawmakers are behind him, he "did not present a list of the MPs' names to support his claim" at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Umno issued a statement around 11pm that its political bureau will consider pulling out of Perikatan Nasional, Malaysia's governing alliance, unless it gets to set new terms for cooperation.