LOC13:39
10:39 GMT
News Report by Abdullah Bugis
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (KUNA) -- Malaysia witnessed on Tuesday ceremonies for bidding farewell to the outgoing King Al-Sultan Abdullah ibn Sultan Ahmad Shah who relinquished the throne to his successor, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.
The outgoing monarch, the nation's 16th king, took the oath on January 31, 2019, succeeding Sultan Muhammad V, who stepped down on January 6, 2019.
Sultan Ibrahim, Malaysia's 17th king, will perform the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday to be the country's 17th monarch.
The Farwell ceremonies kick started with emergence of the King and the Queen, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, both dressed in traditional Malay costumes, from the royal palace, before the couple proceeded in a motorcade to the parliament building where they were greeted by the prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, ministers and MPs, with attendance of diplomats.
The King examined the Royal Guards, amid tunes of the National Anthem, followed with flying the national flag at half-mast and a 21-gun salute.
The royal motorcade proceeded to the airport, passing through main roads in the capital, with roadsides crammed with onlookers.
The royal pair ascended an airplane at the airport before flying to Bahang state, in the east of the Malaysian peninsula, where he had been name its ruler after death of his father in 2019.
Malaysia is a royal constitutional federation comprising 14 states, nine of which are sultanates by succession. The remaining five are governed by rulers.
One of the nine sultans occupy the monarch's post on rotation basis for a five-year mandate.
The king powers are largely formal while the executive powers are in the hands of the prime minister, responsible in front of the parliament.
However, the monarch is widely revered among the Muslim majority and is eyed as the "symbolic leader" of the Muslims in the country. (end)
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