Malaysia yesterday installed an outspoken motorcycle-riding king in an elaborate ceremony steeped in centuries of tradition, with the billionaire determined to play a key role in ensuring political stability.
Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s new position is largely ceremonial, but has in the past few years featured heavily in the country’s fractured political landscape. In addition to overseeing major political appointments, the king serves as the official head of Islam in the Muslim-majority country and commander-in-chief of its armed forces.
Bloomberg estimates that Sultan Ibrahim and his family, rulers of southern Johor state, are worth at least US$5.7 billion, including land in Singapore and investments in various companies, including in palm oil, real estate and telecommunications.
Photo: AFP
Wearing royal blue ceremonial attire, the 65-year-old took the oath of office in a traditional ceremony at the national palace in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
“With this oath, I solemnly and truly profess to be faithful, to rule fairly for Malaysia in accordance with the laws and the constitution,” Sultan Ibrahim said during a nationally televised event attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other ruling elite.
Sultan Ibrahim was chosen last year by the country’s royalty to be the next head of state. A coronation ceremony is to be held in several months.
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement that sees the throne change hands every five years between the rulers of nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.
Royal intervention has been needed to name prime ministers three times following the collapse of governments and a post-election hung parliament in the past few years.
In an interview with Singapore’s the Straits Times in December last year, Ibrahim said he was not keen on becoming a “puppet king.”
“There’re 222 of you [lawmakers] in parliament. There’re over 30 million [people] outside. I’m not with you, I’m with them,” he was quoted as saying in the broadsheet. “I will support the government, but if I think they are doing something improper, I will tell them.”
The king also wields the power to pardon. In 2018, Sultan Muhammad V, one of Sultan Ibrahim’s predecessors, pardoned Anwar, who had served a jail sentence for sodomy.
Sultan Ibrahim belongs to the wealthy and powerful Johor royal family, the head of which commands a small private army.
He has a close relationship with Anwar and has been outspoken about politics and corruption. Married with six children, he has in the past made annual trips around Johor on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, handing out charity to the poor.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including