Malaysian King calls for unity after tense elections

Malaysian Supreme Head of State Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah on Tuesday called for unity in the country and between both political divides after a tensely- contested general election in the multi-racial country.

Opening the new parliament elected in the May general election, the King urged his fellow countrymen to discard characters that caused disunity, and to seek out areas of understanding to strengthen unity.

He urged all parties to accept and respect the results of the general election on May 5. "It's time to work together so that the country could move forward and achieve the status of a high income country by 2020."

The general election saw the ruling coalition returned to the parliament with a slimmer majority of 133 seats in the 222 seats lower house. The opposition has since held more than a dozen of rallies across the country to protest against alleged electoral fraud.

Abdul Halim told the members of parliament to work together to develop and prosper the country.

Oppositions said they would temporarily bridge the differences with the ruling coalition to discuss ways to address the recent haze largely attributed to the forest fire in Indonesia.

During the opening of the parliament, the traditional inspection ceremony was forced to be held in door due to the thick haze in the Malaysian capital.