Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaks to reporters at a press conference at the Bukhary Foundation, Kuala Lumpur January 17, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been summoned to meet the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) at 5pm today, hours after he resigned, in a move some speculate is to form a new coalition government.

“Agong has summoned Tun Dr Mahathir to Istana Negara at 5pm, please be there,” his aide briefly said.

This comes in the wake of what some see as a failed attempt by a number of MPs from PKR, Umno and PAS to form a new government yesterday.

Today, PKR sacked its deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and vice president Zuraida Kamarudin for their part in the power grab.

In a counter move, up to 11 MPs from PKR who are aligned with Azmin also resigned from the party and the Pakatan Harapan coalition to form a new independent bloc in Parliament.

At the time of writing, YDPA is meeting with PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

This is the second time Dr Mahathir has quit the post. With this resignation, Dr Mahathir will have the distinction of being both Malaysia’s longest-serving and shortest-serving prime minister.

At about the same time when news of his resignation surfaced, Dr Mahathir’s party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) today also announced that it had decided yesterday to pull out of the PH coalition.