THE Conference of Rulers will elect the new Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and Deputy Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on January 24.

The king and deputy will then take their oath of office on January 31, said a statement today from the Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal Syed Danial Syed Ahmad.

The statement was issued after today’s meeting of six rulers at Istana Negara to set a date for the election of the16th Yang Di-Pertuan Agong following Sultan Muhammad V’s abdication of the throne yesterday.

It was decided at the meeting that Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzudin would remain the acting Yang d-Pertuan Agong until then.

The rulers at the meeting were Sultan Nazrin, Sultan of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajudin Syed Putra Jamalullail and Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin,  Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir; Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar; and Sultan of Kedah Sultan Sallehuddin Shah.

The statement from the palace said the Pahang sultan did not attend the meeting today due to poor health, while the Selangor sultan is overseas.

The rulers at the meeting today recorded their thanks to Sultan Muhammad V for his service and their respect for his decision.

Sultan Muhammad V, who is the ruler of Kelantan, was proclaimed the country’s 15th Agong for a period of five years on December 13, 2016. 

He is the first to have abdicated the throne before the end of the term.

The Pahang sultan is next in line but because he is ill, he is passing the crown on to the Johor sultan, who is next in line. The process to fill the vacancy will take several weeks, automatically making the Perak ruler acting king until then.

Under the Constitution, a new king must be elected within four weeks of the throne falling vacant. – January 7, 2019.