IN DIRTY POLITICS – 4 DAYS ARE 4 LIFETIMES – MALAYSIA’S FATE SECOND, WILD CASH & HORSE-TRADING FIRST: MAHATHIR PRE-EMPTS AGONG, RETAINS HIMSELF AS ‘INTERIM PM’ UNTIL PARLIAMENT CONVENES ON MAR 2 – ‘THE KING CANNOT FIND ANYONE WITH A DISTINCT MAJORITY … HE IS NOT SURE, SO HE WANTS THEM TO MAKE ANOTHER STATEMENT’

PUTRAJAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the next prime minister may have to be decided when the Dewan Rakyat convenes next month, as there is no clear majority established on the formation of the next government.

“The king has asked all MPs. They have made statutory declarations but he is not sure, so he wants them to make another statement.

“He cannot find anyone with a distinct majority,” he told reporters today after announcing the economic stimulus package at the Prime Minister’s Office here. -FREE MALAYSIA TODAY

Dr M: No one has clear majority, King leaves matter to Parliament on March 2

5.30pm: Prime Minister’s Department, Putrajaya – Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the King has found no one “with a distinct majority”.

“And because there is no distinct majority, he (the King) says the right forum is the Dewan Rakyat.

“So Parliament will be called on the 2nd of next month… whoever has majority support in Parliament will become prime minister.

“However if the Dewan Rakyat fails to find a person with a majority, we will have to go for a snap election,” he says.

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Snap polls could cost up to RM800m – EC chair

5.18pm – A fresh election could cost the country between RM700 million to RM800 million, the Election Commission (EC) states.

EC chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun tells Malaysiakini this is a “guesstimate” should snap polls be called in the wake of the current political crisis.

He was asked to clarify a tweet by former Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan who claimed she was informed by Azhar that the cost of a snap election could be between “RM750 to RM800 billion”. – MKINI

FREE MALAYSIA TODAY / MKINI