Kuala Lumpur: Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmed Shah took oath as the 16th King of Malaysia at the National Palace here on Thursday for a term of five years, after his predecessor, Sultan Muhammad V stepped down suddenly on January 6 after two years in office. The new King or ‘Yang di-Pertuan Agong’ hails from Pahang and is tasked with  overseeing key appointments as the head of the state and commander of the armed forces, reports Al Jazeera.
He was also accorded a 21-gun salute at Parliament building ahead of Thursday’s coronation. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, which has nine royal families. The families take turns to elect the King through a vote in the Council of Rulers as part of a rotational system agreed on in 1957. The 15th King held the post for two years from December 13, 2016 to January 6, 2019, before stepping down. He still remains the monarch of the northeastern state of Kelantan in Malaysia.
