Busy week for Malaysia’s new king, Sultan Ibrahim
Malaysia’s newly-installed king, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim has been busy with several meetings in the past week.
His Majesty also chauffeured Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for an afternoon tea session at a mall in Kuala Lumpur two days ago.
An avid car collector, Sultan Ibrahim brought Anwar to Pavillion in Bukit Bintang, where they enjoyed afternoon tea at a cafe.
Sultan Ibrahim, who ascended the throne on Jan 31, granted Anwar an audience at Istana Negara earlier in the day, where the latter briefed him on the Cabinet’s working papers.
Following their discussion, they departed for Pavillion, where they witnessed a Lion Dance performance before leaving the mall after their tea session.
On the same day, Sultan Ibrahim met Finance Minister II, Senator Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, and Armed Forces chief, General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman.
On Valentine’s Day, Sultan Ibrahim granted an audience to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar at Istana Negara, and the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director-general, Datuk Hakimah Mohd Yusoff.
Na’im, in a Facebook post, expressed his appreciation for all who had raised concerns on Islamic-related issues.
His Majesty also granted an audience to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), Dr Zaliha Mustafa, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal and Institutional Reforms), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, as well as Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh, and Putrajaya Corporation president, Datuk Fadlun Mak Ujud.
Sultan Ibrahim also met Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul at Istana Negara earlier today (main image).
Separately, Sultan Ibrahim has consented for former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif to head a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to look into matters related to the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge, in Johor.
The Cabinet had agreed to set up the RCI on Jan 24.
Sultan Ibrahim also consented to former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Zainun Ali as the panel’s deputy chairman.
The other panellists are legal expert Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, former dean of the law faculty at Universiti Malaya Prof Dr Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin, constitutional law and administrative law specialist Prof Datin Dr Faridah Jalil, Johor state financial officer Datuk Mohammed Ridha Abd Kadir, and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency’s southern region director Datuk Dickson Dollah.
The Prime Minister’s Department’s legal affairs section will act as the panel’s secretariat, with its director-general Zamri Misman, the panel’s secretary.
In 2008, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia, and South Ledge to the state in its territorial waters.
Malaysia applied for an interpretation in 2017, but in 2018, the then prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, withdrew an application to overturn the ruling.
Last year, then attorney-general Tan Sri Idrus Harun described the decision to withdraw the application as “not in order”, and “improper”, after a special task force to study the case found that Dr Mahathir could have made a mistake in withdrawing the application.
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