[There has been widespread speculation in Malaysia that Sultan Muhammad’s abdication was part of an effort by the sultans to protect the integrity of the monarchy in the wake of his alleged recent marriage to a former Miss Moscow in Russia. The palace has declined to comment, even as photos believed to be of their marriage circulate widely on social media.]
By
Mike Ives
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Sultan
Muhammad V of Kelantan of Malaysia at the opening
session of
Parliament in Kuala Lumpur in
July. Credit Yam G-Jun/Associated Press
|
HONG
KONG — Malaysia’s king
resigned on Sunday, becoming the first monarch to abdicate in the country’s
history.
The royal palace offered no explanation for
why the king, Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, stepped down after serving only
two years of a five-year term. It has also declined to comment on a widespread
rumor that his departure was tied to his marriage to a former beauty queen in
Russia during a recent medical leave.
But this much is clear: A king’s role in
Malaysia has little parallel among the world’s monarchies.
What
explains the king’s term limit?
The monarch’s position, officially the “yang
di-pertuan agong,” rotates every five years among a group of hereditary sultans
who are titular leaders of nine Malay states. (The other four states have
governors instead.)
The power-sharing arrangement was developed
when Malaysia became independent from Britain in 1957 and the sultans — who had
previously ruled independently, with support from the British colonial
authorities — needed to nominate a figurehead to rule over a newly federalized
nation.
“They didn’t want to say one king was
superior to the others,” said Serina Rahman, a visiting fellow at the
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore who studies rural Malaysia.
Who
pays the king’s salary, and what does he do?
The Malaysian state allocates 13.5 million
Malaysian ringgit, or nearly $3.3 million, for the king’s annual salary and
expenses, according to recent government figures. Taxpayers foot that bill.
The king’s ceremonial duties include swearing
in prime ministers and issuing royal pardons. Sultan Muhammad swore in Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad after he was returned to power last year — albeit
only after a mysterious delay that put the nation on edge for a few hours.
He also agreed to pardon Anwar Ibrahim, a
former deputy prime minister who had been convicted years earlier on sodomy
charges in a case that Mr. Anwar’s supporters say was engineered by his
political enemies.
How
much power does the monarchy have?
The king’s position has always been largely
ceremonial because the Malaysian Parliament and prime minister have a monopoly
on administrative power. The monarchy’s powers were further curbed in the
1990s, when Mr. Mahathir, during his first stint as prime minister, pushed through
constitutional amendments that limited sultans’ legal immunity and canceled
their right to veto legislation.
Yet many in Malaysia see the king as the
embodiment of the traditions of the country’s ethnic Malay Muslim majority, and
the monarchy generally as a voice of objective reason, Dr. Rahman said. As a
result, politicians often cultivate support from sultans as a way of wooing
voters from the country’s Malay political base.
Sultans can also play at politics. In 2014,
example, the sultan of Selangor chose not to endorse the chief minister
nominated by the local government.
“Conventionally, it was well established that
a constitutional monarch does no more than endorsing and formally appointing
the nominated leader of a victorious parliamentary party or coalition to head a
new government,” a group of political analysts wrote at the time. “In the
present case, this was manifestly not done.”
How
is the monarchy viewed by the public?
Even though support for Malaysia’s monarchy
is generally high, especially in the country’s rural Malay heartland, its
reputation has suffered in recent decades from a series of scandals. Among the
most notorious royals was King Mahmood Iskandar of Johor, who was accused in
the 1980s of fatally beating a golf caddy who had laughed at his putt. (He was
immune from prosecution.)
“Generally, I think you could say that the
urban, Western-educated and modern in thinking tend to question the relevance
and need for royalty,” said Fahri Azzat, a constitutional scholar in Kuala
Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
But Mr. Azzat added that because Malaysia’s
colonial-era Sedition Act criminalizes open criticism of the monarchy, the
palace’s critics tend to keep quiet.
Why did Sultan Muhammad abdicate, and who
replaces him?
There has been widespread speculation in
Malaysia that Sultan Muhammad’s abdication was part of an effort by the sultans
to protect the integrity of the monarchy in the wake of his alleged recent
marriage to a former Miss Moscow in Russia. The palace has declined to comment,
even as photos believed to be of their marriage circulate widely on social
media.
The current deputy king, Sultan Nazrin Shah
of Perak, is expected to serve as acting king until a new one is appointed by
the nine sultans, known as the Conference of Rulers, the Malaysian news media
reported on Monday. They are due to meet on Jan. 24.
Dr. Rahman said that while the next sultan’s
approach to the job could have an impact on Malaysian politics, the royal
succession was not of major concern to most of the country’s people. “Malaysia
will keep on spinning whatever happens at the top,” she said.
Sharon Tan contributed reporting from Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
