KUALA LUMPUR: Sultan Muhammad V (pix) stepping down as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong XV yesterday is a first in the history of Malaysia, a country practising constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.
The move by the Sultan of Kelantan to step down as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong was announced by the Comptroller of the Royal Household, Datuk Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz in a statement evening yesterday, thus putting to rest rumours swirling among the people on the position of Sultan Muhammad V, who prior to this was on leave for two months.
Sultan Muhammad V himself announced his resignation officially to the rulers through a letter which was sent to the secretary of the Conference of Rulers.
At the time of filing this report, the Conference of Rulers had yet to come up with an official statement on the matter.
Under the Malaysian system of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the selection of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is done according to a rotation system every five years , whereby the Malay rulers elect the next King and Deputy King .
Sultan Muhammad V, who was born on Oct 6, 1969 in Kota Baru, Kelantan, is among the heads of the nation who did not serve his full five-year term after taking the oath of office on Dec 13, 2016. He was installed as King on April 24, 2017.
The others were the Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Muhammad who was the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of the Federation Of Malaya.He was installed as King on Aug 31, 1957 but died on April 1, 1960.
Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ala’iddin Sulaiman Shah who elected to be his successor on April 14, 1960 died several hours before he was installed as the second Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Sept 1, 1960.
The Sultan of Selangor Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah who was to serve as the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong from April 26, 1999, died on Nov 21, 2001.
Speculation on the position of Sultan Muhammad V started to go viral when an English newspaper reported that the Conference of Rulers met after Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Shah, who performed the duties of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, ended his duty on Dec 31, 2018.
Sultan Nazrin carried out the duties of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong when Sultan Muhammad V went on leave for two months from Nov 2 to undergo medical treatment.
On Nov 24, foreign media reported and carried pictures of the marriage of Sultan Muhammad V abroad. However, there was no official announcement from the palace on the matter.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when asked about the matter on Nov 30, explained that he had not received any official confirmation from any quarter on the alleged marriage.
On Friday, Mahathir, when asked on claims that the Conference of Rulers had held a special meeting recently, said he had not received any information or official letter on allegations that Sultan Muhammad V would be stepping down. — Bernama
