16th Malaysian king took his oath today

Pa-hang s Sultan Abdullah Ri ayatuddin ascended the throne as the new 16th king of Malaysia on January 31 at Kuala-Lumpur. He succeeded Sultan Muhammad V who stepped down from power for marrying Miss Moscow.

The 59-year-old Sultan Abdullah Ri ayatuddin was elected the new king by the royal rulers of Malaysia s 9 states last week. He has also succeeded his ailing father as the ruler of Pa-hang last month.

Sultan Abdullah arrived to a state welcome at the Parliament Square, and was met by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. The central band of the Royal Malay Regiment played the national anthem. Meanwhile, the Royal Standard of the king was hoisted and a 21-gun salute was fired.

Sultan Abdullah then inspected the main guard-of-honor from the 1st Battalion Royal Malay Regiment.

He later proceeded to Istana Negara to take the oath of office. At the same ceremony, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, took the oath of office as deputy king.