KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The race to form a government hit high gear this morning as Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders arrived at the Seri Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, confirming rumours of a meeting between the two coalitions that first surfaced late last night.

Among the faces who ran the gauntlet of the media scrum were BN leaders such as Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim greeted media with a salute, as he exited his car upon arriving at around 10.30am.

He merely smiled when asked, "Do you have the numbers?” before giving a thumbs-up.

Similarly, other BN leaders such as Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng, Datuk Khairuddin Razali and Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin have also arrived at the hotel.

Also seen entering the building were PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Amanah president Mohmad Sabu from PH.

Most BN leaders when queried refused to comment on the purpose of the meeting, merely saying that they had received a letter requesting their presence at a meeting in their capacity as one of the coalition’s MPs, as Wee could be heard saying in a ‘live’ telecast.

Ismail Sabri, meanwhile, implied that Zahid cannot make any decision without BN’s explicit consent.

"We stood on BN ticket and not Umno. No one can speak on behalf of party except for MT and for BN the supreme council If not, any (other) decisions are not valid,” he said to assembled media.

The meeting is taking place four hours before a deadline set by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for prospective prime minister candidates to prove that they have a majority.

The 15th general election ended on Saturday with both the PH and PN coalitions claiming to have enough numbers in the 222-seat Parliament to form government.

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