The 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Abdullah of Pahang, appointed Muhyiddin Yassin, then the de facto leader of PN, as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, bringing the informal political coalition into government.

[8][9][10][11][12] Since the morning of 23 February 2020, a faction from Parti Keadilan Rakyat led by its deputy president Azmin Ali who also served as Minister of Economic Affairs, BERSATU's Supreme Council, Muafakat Nasional of Malaysian Islamic Party-United Malays National Organisation pact retreat, UMNO's own Supreme Council, and GPS's member of the parliament; all held separate meetings in various locations.

[16][17] Once the meeting had concluded, several opposition party leaders, including UMNO's Ismail Sabri Yaakob and PAS's Hadi Awang then joined Azmin's supporters at Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya.

[18] The purpose of the gathering was later revealed to be a dinner event called "Majlis Makan Malam Muafakat Ahli Parlimen" celebrating the achievement of a "consensus" among MPs, of which 131 were in attendance, from both the government and opposition.

Najib Abdul Razak, that he, as well as MPs from the UMNO, signed statutory declarations in support of the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad lead an alliance called Perikatan Nasional; however, their agreement was conditional.

[28] The royal palace announced that the Agong had accepted Mahathir's resignation and appointed him as interim prime minister in order to oversee the country's administration until the formation of a new government.

[32] To resolve the issue, the Agong summoned every member of the Dewan Rakyat for an audience so that he may interview each of them personally so as to determine who had the support of the majority of parliament to form a new government as prime minister.

On the afternoon of 28 February, BERSATU Secretary-General Datuk Marzuki Yahaya announced that all of its 36 MPs have decided on nominating party president Muhyiddin for the position of Prime Minister instead of Mahathir.

[34] This was soon followed by claims made by political analysts in Sabah and Sarawak that local parties such as GBS, GPS, and Warisan intended to support Muhiyiddin as prime minister, securing him a majority in parliament.

[37] On 17 May 2020, the leaders of BERSATU, BN, PAS, GPS, PBS, and STAR issued a joint statement saying that all their 111 MPs support formalising the Perikatan Nasional alliance which was previously an ad hoc agreement and also a political association.