updated version

Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra was today elected the new Yang Di Pertuan Agong while Sultan of Terengganu Mizan Zainal Abidin remained the Deputy Agong at the 191th Conference of Rulers in Istana Negara.

Tuanku Sirajuddin, elected in a secret ballot by the country's traditional Malay rulers, will be Malaysia's 12th Agong under a unique five-year rotational system since independence in 1957.

His Majesty, 58, replaces Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, who died of heart failure on Nov 21.

Tuanku Sirajuddin was born in May 16, 1943 in Arau, Perlis and was crowned as Sultan in April 17 last year.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in a two-paragraph statement today, announced that the new Agong will be officially appointed in a ceremony at Istana Negara tomorrow.

He said the Conference of Rulers had also re-elected Sultan Mizan as the Deputy Agong.

Sultan Mizan was born in Jan 22, 1962 in Kuala Terengganu and was crowned in May 15, 1998.

The sultan has been serving as the Deputy Agong since 1999.

Rotation system

Under the Federal Constitution, the Agong position is rotated every five years between the traditional Malay rulers of nine states.

In seven of the states, the Rulers are known as Sultans, while the title of Raja is used in the northern state of Perlis and Yang Di Pertuan Besar or Yam Tuan in Negeri Sembilan.

Together they make up the Conference of Rulers, which met today to vote for the new king.

Since 1957 the post of Agong was elected on a rotation system based on the list accepted by the Malay rulers of nine states.

The rotation list started with Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perlis, Terengganu, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Johor and Perak.

The first round of rotation expired in April 1994, even though it was expected to expire in 2002 provided if all kings ruled a maximum of five years each.

The second round of rotation begun in April 26, 1994 when Conference of Rulers elected Yang Di Pertuan Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Jaafar Tuanku Abdul Rahman as the 10th Agong.

Sultan Salahuddin of Selangor was elected as the 11th Agong on April 26, 1999, but his reign was cut short when he died late last month.

Ceremonial powers

According to the rotation list, Raja of Perlis should have been made the deputy to Sultan Salahuddin.

However, Raja Tuanku Syed Putra from Perlis was not elected then because he was the third King (1960-65) and a ruler can only hold the post for one term. Therefore, Perlis gave way to Terengganu.

But Tuanku Syed Putra passed away last year and his son Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was made the new ruler of Perlis.

The appointment of Tuanku Sirajuddin as Agong finally ended speculations that the Terengganu ruler, Sultan Mizan, would take the post.

Nevertheless, Sultan Mizan is expected to take over as Agong when Tuanku Sirajuddin's term expires in 2006.

Under the Constitution, the king is the head of state with ceremonial powers such as being the federal head of religion and armed forces. Actual executive power, however, lies in the hand of the head of government - the prime minister.