MALAYSIA CHOOSES A NEW KING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 002081

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MY
SUBJECT: MALAYSIA CHOOSES A NEW KING

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Sultan Mahmud Al Mukatfi Billah
Shah, the Sultan of Terengganu and current Deputy King will become
the thirteenth "Yang di-Pertuan Agong" or the King of Malaysia for a
five-year term effective December 13, 2006, following his election
by the Malaysian Conference of Rulers. He will replace the current
king Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail. The Sultan of
Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Sultan Badlishah, will
become the Deputy King also for a five-year term. The institution
of a rotating kingship is unique to Malaysia. The King and the
Sultans perform ceremonial functions and serve as the heads of Islam
in their respective areas. Mahathir-era constitutional amendments
significantly reduced the King and Sultan's discretionary political
powers. In theory, the King could play an important role if
Malaysia were to face a constitutional crisis. Biographic data on
the new King is included with this report. End Summary.

Election of a new King
--------------


2. (U) Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi made the announcement of the
new monarch on November 3, following the 208th Conference of Rulers.
Following Malaysia's unique system of rotating kingship (see
below),the Conference elected Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Sultan
Mahmud Al Mukatfi Billah Shah, the Sultan of Terengganu, age 44, as
the thirteenth "Yang di-Pertuan Agong" or the King of Malaysia for a
five-year term effective December 13, 2006. The Sultan of Kedah,
Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Sultan Badlishah, will become the
Deputy King also for a five-year term. No controversy appeared to
surround the Sultan of Terengganu's election.


3. (U) The institution of rotating kingship is unique to Malaysia.
The first Prime Minister of Malaysia (then Malaya) Tunku Abdul
Rahman introduced the system to address the potential problem of
electing just one of the nine Malay rulers as head of the
Federation. He resolved the problem by convincing the Conference of
Rulers to elect a King among them for a term of five years, after
which the King would retire and return to his state as Ruler. Since
independence, all the traditional rulers of all nine states have
served as King.


4. (U) Observers draw comparisons between the election of the King
and the election of the Pope. Although only nine votes are
involved, extreme care is taken to ensure the whole procedure is
kept confidential so that the nine rulers do not know how their
peers voted. After the votes are cast and counted in the full view
of all the rulers and the results announced, the whole procedure is
repeated for the election of the Deputy King. The result of the
election is then conveyed to the Prime Minister who announces it to
the nation. Before the conference is adjourned, the ballot papers
are then burnt to ashes in full view of the rulers present.

Powers of the King
--------------


5. (U) The powers of the King are derived from the Malaysian
Federal Constitution. The King is required by the Constitution to
act upon the advice of the PM or by the Cabinet or any Minister
authorized by the Cabinet. However, under Article 40 (2) of the
Federal Constitution, the King may act in his discretion in the
performance of the following functions: [is this a quote from the
Constitution?]

"The appointment of a Prime Minister;

"The withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of
Parliament;

"The requisition of a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned
solely with the privileges, position, honors and dignities of the
Their Royal Highnesses, and any action at such a meeting and in any
other case mentioned in this Constitution."


6. (U) Apart from these discretionary powers, the King holds the
ceremonial position as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
He is also the head of Islam for the country, his own state and the
four states that do not have a Malay Sultan - Melaka, Penang, Sabah
and Sarawak. He also appoints the Governors of the four states on
the advice of the respective Chief Ministers.


7. (SBU) Former Prime Minister Mahathir successfully fought to
circumscribe the powers of the King and traditional rulers,
resulting in two amendments to the Constitution in 1983 and in 1993.
The 1983 amendments essentially stripped away the King and the
Sultans' powers to block legislation. The 1993 amendments removed
the legal immunity of the Malay rulers in their personal capacity,
so that they may be tried in a Special Court once the Attorney
General has given consent. A King can also be removed from his
position if five members of the Conference of Rulers vote to remove
him.

KUALA LUMP 00002081 002 OF 002




8. (SBU) The King does not have a leading role in day-to-day
politics or a decisive voice on critical policy issues. In some
states, the traditional rulers wield a degree of moral authority,
though many observers conclude such authority has eroded over time
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Bio of the new King
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