BN will form Opposition, supports neither Pakatan nor Perikatan, says Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that his coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) has made the decision to remain neutral and form the Opposition.

The BN supreme council has decided not to support either of the coalition’s rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN), he said on Twitter at exactly 2pm.

“For now, BN has agreed to remain as the Opposition,” he said.

This comes after BN MPs held a meeting at Umno headquarters in Menara Dato’ Onn at Kuala Lumpur to decide on the coalition’s next move.

The meeting was held ahead of the 2pm deadline given by Istana Negara to form the federal government after the 15th general election (GE15).

BN MPs had gathered to decide whether the coalition would throw its support behind PH or PN to get the simple majority required.

GE15 results show that BN had secured its worst ever defeat at the polls, winning only 30 Parliamentary seats.

Meanwhile, PH gained 82 seats and PN won 73, both short of the 112 needed for a simple majority to form the new government.

This resulted in a hung Parliament, with PH and PN scrambling to forge new alliances in order to gain a simple majority.