KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — The Malay Rulers convened a rare unofficial meeting on Wednesday night for a serious discussion on an undisclosed matter, according to confidential sources.
The New Straits Times (NST) reported the sources as confirming the meeting but declining to divulge the specifics of the matter discussed or the attendees.
“Yes, the meeting was held [Wednesday] night. A serious matter was discussed. We want to know where we are heading concerning this matter.
“The others (rulers) were present. But you have to ask Istana Negara. I cannot tell you (whether the Agong attended the meeting,” one source was quoted saying by NST.
Another source told the paper that meetings like that of Wednesday night are “usually held once or twice a term, and normally it is to discuss something important”, adding that there was no such meeting last year.
The NST said the Wednesday meeting did not require the attendance of officials such as the prime minister, who would have been present in a typical Conference of Rulers meeting.
According to the paper, a formal three-day Conference of Rulers involves only the nine state rulers on the first day, with governors to join them on the second day.
The prime minister, mentri besar and chief ministers would then join the meeting on the third day.
NST also reported sources as saying the usual meeting on Wednesdays for the prime minister to present Cabinet papers to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was not held this week.
The paper noted that the rare meeting on Wednesday night was held after the end of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V's two-month leave until December 31 for medical treatment.
It was also the end of Deputy Agong Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah's duties as acting Agong during the period.
Sultan Muhammad V was installed as the country's king on April 24, 2017, a position that runs on a five-year term.
