KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has extended the 2pm deadline for political parties to prove their majority for government formation and prime minister candidate originally set for today, till tomorrow.

In a statement today, Comptroller of the Istana Negara Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said that the King has agreed to the extension request made today, by political party leaders and coalitions.

"Therefore, His Majesty calls on and advises the people to be patient and calm until the process of forming a new government and nomination of the next 10th prime minister of Malaysia is done.

"His Majesty wishes to remind everyone that the nation’s administration is still running as usual under the management of the caretaker prime minister, based on the principles outlined for a caretaker government,” Ahmad Fadil added.

He said that the King has also called on the people to pray that the government formation process and the nomination of the 10th prime minister for the country goes smoothly.

With Malaysia’s Parliament in limbo, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday ordered coalition and party leaders to notify Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun of their numbers to form a new government by 2pm tomorrow.

He also told them to state clearly their respective prime minister candidates, Ahmad Fadil said in a statement yesterday afternoon as the post-election impasse continued.

"The head of the political parties and the head of the coalition of political parties will be asked by Tan Sri Yang di-Pertua Dewan Rakyat to state their respective agreements and to submit the name of a member of the Dewan Rakyat who has the trust of the majority of members, and to nominate a candidate to be the prime minister of Malaysia before 2pm on Monday, November 21, 2022.

"In accordance with Article 40(2)(a) and Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, it is also informed that His Majesty’s order of consent and decision regarding the formation of a new government and the appointment of the Prime Minister through the process that has been explained is final,” he said.

The 15th general election ended yesterday with both the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions claiming to have enough numbers in the 222-seat Parliament to form government.

PH currently has 82 seats while PN have 73. The Barisan Nasional coalition, which had pushed for national polls to be held this year ahead of the GE14 expiry next year, only garnered 30 seats.