PETALING JAYA: There are slight alterations to the list of 114 MPs who will meet the King on Thursday (Aug 19) for an audience to verify their choice of the next prime minister, with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali being moved from the second group to the last group with PAS MPs.

       The first group of East Malaysian MPs will also be holding a hybrid audience, with six of them to be on direct call during the audience with the King.

       Former premier Muhyiddin and ex-senior minister Azmin were earlier supposed to be meeting the King together with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Umno MPs at 11.10am.

       The two will now be having an audience with the King at 4.20pm, along with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

       Last night, the 114 Members of Parliament who gave the name of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as their choice for the next Prime Minister were called to the Istana Negara on Thursday for an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, said sources.

       “It is believed that the King will be verifying the contents of the statutory declarations sent to the King, naming their preferred candidate,” said the source.

       This comes after the Istana Negara requested all MPs from all political parties to send statutory declarations stating their preferred choice of candidate for the ninth Prime Minister to the King before 4pm on Wednesday (Aug 18).

       The MPs are from Barisan Nasional, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, PAS, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Perikatan-friendly Independents.

       The palace has requested the MPs to be present for an audience with the King at staggered times in five separate groups.

       The first group of 24 MPs from GPS and Bersatu MPs from East Malaysia is scheduled to meet the King at 10am.

       “Top on the list of this first group is Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof from GPS.

       “The second group comprising 25 MPs from Bersatu, Umno and three Independents will have their audience with the King at 11.10am.

       “Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is in the second group, along with Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Khairy Jamaluddin.

       “The third group will meet the King at 2pm and former deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri is in this group.

       “This group has 25 MPs from Umno and Bersatu, including Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin,” said the source.

       “The fourth group will have an audience with the King at 3.10pm.

       “MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong and MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M Saravanan along with Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein are among those in this fourth group.

       “The fifth group is to meet the King at 4.20pm and comprises 18 MPs from PAS, led by PAS President Abdul Hadi,” said the source.