KUALA LUMPUR: The central Malaysian state of Pahang’s soon-to-be new sultan is tipped to become the country’s next king under a unique rotating monarchy system.
The Conference of Rulers has said it will pick a new king among nine hereditary state rulers on Jan. 24 following the sudden abdication of Sultan Muhammad V after just two years on the throne. No reasons were given for the Jan. 6 abdication, the first in the nation’s history, which came after the 49-year-old Sultan Muhammad V reportedly married a former Russian beauty queen.
Pahang’s 88-year-old Sultan Ahmad Shah is next in line to be king, but he is gravely ill.
Tengku Abdullah, currently the regent of Pahang, will succeed Sultan Ahmad Shah on Tuesday, the Pahang palace announced Saturday.
Pahang royal council member Tengku Abdul Rahman was reported saying that royal family members and the council have agreed that his brother Tengku Abdullah, 59, will ascend the state throne because Sultan Ahmad Shah “can no longer shoulder the duties and responsibilities as ruler.”
Tengku Abdullah, who has been state regent for the past two years due to the sultan’s ill health, is a FIFA council member and president of the Asian Hockey Federation.
If Sultan Ahmad Shah doesn’t abdicate, he is unlikely to be elected king due to his sickness and the position could then go to the wealthy sultan of southern Johor state. The succession issue will not be confirmed before Jan. 24. At least five out of the nine state rulers must support Tengku Abdullah, local media said.
The nine ethnic Malay state rulers take turns serving as Malaysia’s king for five-year terms under the world’s only such system, which has been maintained since the country’s independence from Britain in 1957.
The monarch's role is largely ceremonial, since administrative power is vested in the prime minister and parliament. But the monarch is highly regarded as the supreme upholder of Malay tradition, particularly among the ethnic Malay Muslim majority.
Malaysia state’s new sultan tipped to be country’s next king
Malaysia state’s new sultan tipped to be country’s next king
- Sultan Muhammad V suddenly abdicated after just two years on the throne
- The monarch's role is largely ceremonial, since administrative power is vested in the prime minister and parliament
Russia to free two Hungarian-Ukrainian POWs, Putin says
- Ukraine accused the two countries of having “manipulated the sensitive issue of prisoners of war“
- “You will be able to take them with you on the plane you arrived on and the plane you will return to Budapest on,” Putin told Szijjarto
MOSCOW: Russia will free two Ukrainian-Hungarian nationals captured while fighting for Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appealed for their release in a phone call.
Ukraine accused the two countries of having “manipulated the sensitive issue of prisoners of war” and of staging the release as a PR stunt ahead of parliamentary elections in Hungary in April.
In a meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Moscow, Putin said the two soldiers were “forcibly conscripted” by Ukraine and that he personally made the decision to release them.
“As the prime minister requested, you will be able to take them with you on the plane you arrived on and the plane you will return to Budapest on,” Putin told Szijjarto.
Hungary is one of the few European countries to maintain close ties with Russia amid its Ukraine offensive and has consistently opposed military aid for Kyiv.
Ukraine is home to a large Hungarian minority, most of whom live in the western Zakarpattia region and hold dual citizenship.
The Russian defense ministry published a video last week purporting to show a dual Hungarian-Ukrainian citizen prisoner of war, alleging he had been forced to enlist in the Ukrainian army.
During their meeting, Szijjarto also urged Moscow not to raise energy prices, after fighting in the Middle East spurred by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran sent markets into turmoil.
“I came here... to be assured and obtain a guarantee that even in the midst of the current crisis, the quantities of natural gas and crude oil necessary for Hungary’s energy security will be available, and that they will be delivered to Hungary from Russia at the same price,” Szijjarto said.
Putin said Russia was happy to discuss the issue of energy.
“Not everything depends on us, but, I repeat, we have always been reliable suppliers,” Putin told Szijjarto.
Hungary is the European Union’s biggest importer of Russian fossil fuels, having maintained purchases and secured exemptions from sanctions despite pressure from Brussels amid the Ukraine war.
Budapest was already facing disruption from the closure of the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Hungary and which Ukraine says was damaged in a Russian strike in January.
Both Hungary and Slovakia, as well as the Kremlin, accuse Kyiv of deliberately stalling its reopening. Kyiv says the threat of another attack is holding up repairs.
