New King of Malaysia sworn in

The new King of Malaysia has been sworn in.

Malaysia has a system of a rotating monarchy among the nine ethnic Malay state rulers. Each King has a term of five years before the next King is installed.

The new King of Malaysia is Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, Sultan of Johor. He replaces Abdullah of Pahang, Sultan of Pahang. The position is largely ceremonial.

In an interview with Singapore’s The Straits Times in December, the incumbent King said he was not keen on becoming a “puppet king”. “There’re 222 of you [lawmakers] in parliament. There’re over 30 million [population] outside. I’m not with you, I’m with them. I will support the government, but if I think they are doing something improper, I will tell them.”