KUALA LUMPUR: Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun have left Istana Negara.
Both Zuki and Azhar were seen entering the palace in the morning before Barisan Nasional (BN) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak leaders held an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah.
Earlier, BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his deputy, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, entered the palace 30 minutes before GPS representatives, including Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof dan Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
Both groups left after some 40 minutes of the audience with King.
The audience with the party leaders is believed to be related to the formation of the next federal government.
Meanwhile, police presence at Istana Negara has been beefed up today, with more personnel being deployed compared to previous days, with the light strike force also maintaining its vigil.
As part of the security beef-up, vehicles have been prohibited from entering and exiting Jalan Semantan.
The move was taken following the presence of political parties supporters near Istana Negara yesterday.
The 15th General Election on Saturday ended with no party getting a simple majority of 112 seats in the 222-seat Parliament to form the new government.
Pakatan Harapan got 82 seats, followed by Perikatan Nasional with 73, BN with 30, Gabungan Parti Sarawak with 22, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah with six and Warisan with three seats.
Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) secured one each, while the independents secured two.