KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said he tried to convince Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to not resign as Prime Minister during the period of political instability earlier this year.

On Feb 24, the ruler said Dr Mahathir had come to meet him, and the King asked the then premier to not step down from his post, but Dr Mahathir was adamant about his decision.

"As such, We had the responsibility of appointing a new Prime Minister as stipulated in the Federal Constitution. Article 43 states that We have the discretion to appoint a Member of the House of Representatives who in Our judgement commands the confidence of the majority of members of the House of Representatives," he said during his address in Parliament today.

On Feb 25 and 26, the King had organised sessions with Members of Parliament to personally assess their support.

On Feb 29, all political parties were asked to send in their choice of candidate as Prime Minister, said the King.

After going through the process, he said it was found that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had the majority support of Members of Parliament and therefore would be appointed as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

"I carried out my duties transparently and fairly, in line with the concept of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, which is the foundation of this country," he said.