KUALA LUMPUR,Sept 25: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah will not be granting an audience to anyone for a week as he is currently under observation, a palace official said today.
“He has been advised by his doctors to remain in hospital for seven days for observation. So until then, he will not have any meetings,” palace Comptroller Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin told Reuters.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had consented to grant him an audience, though this had to be postponed after the King was admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN).
On Wednesday, Anwar said he had secured a “strong, formidable” majority from MPs to form a new government.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has dismissed Anwar’s claim and has challenged him to prove it through a constitutional process.
The King plays a largely ceremonial role in Malaysia but he can appoint a prime minister who in his view is likely to command a majority in Parliament. He can also dissolve Parliament and trigger elections on the prime minister’s advice.
Anwar was scheduled to meet the King on Tuesday but the appointment had to be cancelled as the King was unwell and had to be taken to hospital.
