PETALING JAYA: The Malay Rulers will have a special meeting at Istana Negara on Friday (Aug 20) afternoon to deliberate who should be appointed as the next prime minister of Malaysia.

       The meeting – scheduled to take place at 2.30pm – is where the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is likely to inform Malay Rulers the decision of the verification exercise carried out over the past few days to confirm who is likely to have majority support of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.

       On Thursday (Aug 19), 114 MPs held an audience with the King at Istana Negara where they were asked if they had voted willingly and without duress for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to be the prime minister.

       Prior to this, all 220 MPs were requested to submit statutory declarations to Istana Negara by 4pm on Wednesday (Aug 18), to state their support on who should be prime minister.

       Ismail Sabri, who is the Bera MP, is said to have garnered support from 114 MPs while Port Dickson MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had the support of at least 100 MPs.

       Although he is expected to be named as the new prime minister, Ismail Sabri will still have to face a motion of confidence in Parliament when it meets on Sept 6.

       The process to appoint a new prime minister comes in the wake of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation from the post on Monday (Aug 16).