EC submits documents to palace for inauguration of PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The palace has confirmed receiving two documents for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V pertaining to the inauguration of the seventh Malaysian prime minister.
The first document received at 1.38pm today by the Principal Private Secretary to the Agong, Datuk Nik Mohd Shafriman Nik Hassan, was signed by political parties nominating Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister.
Nik Mohd Shafriman also received the full results for the 14th General Election from Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah at 2.45pm.
Both the documents need the endorsement of Sultan Muhammad V for the inauguration ceremony to be held soon.
In an unrelated incident, the EC chairman was at the receiving end of a public criticism. Political analyst Karim Raslan took a swipe at Mohd Hashim on live TV on Thursday.
"What are you doing? You should just resign. If you can't handle the heat, get out of there. You have done the most shameful thing, you have let us all down (and) the people of Malaysia," Karim said.
"We've all been waiting for you to make these announcements and there are 47 seats to come. And what is going on in Sabah? We've been asking this. How is that Sarawak, this enormous state, the head of the SPR, could have sorted it all out?
"That guy, who is the head of the SPR of Sarawak, should be running the country's SPR.
"This is despicable, absolutely appalling, and what I would like to know is that what are the pressures behind you? Who's whispering in your ears?
"This is the kind of ridiculous rubbish that we have to see the end of today. Semuanya setuju ya? Rubbish! This kind of manipulation going behind the scenes. Just tell it straight. We are a very mature, sensible people, we'll just move on," he said.
Karim was a panelist in an Astro Awani broadcast. Mohd Hashim had been slow in announcing the results on the same channel.