PADANG Rengas MP Nazri Aziz of Umno and Semporna MP Mohd Shafie Apdal of Warisan are the only lawmakers who have not appeared before Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah for personal interviews about the new government.

By 5.10pm, all MPs who were present at Istana Negara today for their respective private audience with the Agong had left, but neither Nazri nor Shafie had appeared.

It is understood Nazri is in France, while Shafie is due to meet the Agong imminently.

Parliament has 222 MPs.

The Agong has been conducting one-on-one interviews with all MPs since yesterday to decide whether there is sufficient support for a new PM candidate, as part of the process to determine a new government.

During the interview, MPs were given a choice of stating their candidate for prime minister or if they opted to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections.

The crisis began over the weekend when Bersatu and a faction of PKR MPs under Mohamed Azmin Ali tried to form a new government with opposition parties Umno and PAS.

Dr Mahathir rejected the move, and resigned as prime minister and Bersatu chairman the next day, while Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin withdrew the party from the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Dr Mahathir is currently the interim prime minister, as appointed by the Agong, until a new PM is determined. – February 26, 2020.