KUANTAN, Jan 30 — Pahang has declared tomorrow as a ‘cuti peristiwa’ (occasional public holiday) in conjunction with the swearing-in of the Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, as the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the decision to declare the holiday was made at the meeting of the State Executive Council today after obtaining the consent of Sultan Abdullah.

“The occasional public holiday is deemed necessary because tomorrow is a historic day for Pahang and all the people of the state in view of the swearing-in of the Sultan of Pahang as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he told a press conference at Wisma Sri Pahang.

Sultan Abdullah was elected as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong after the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V, resigned as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on January 6.

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Wan Rosdy said the occasional holiday was significant because the last similar historic occasion for Pahang took place about four decades ago, in 1979, when Paduka Ayahanda Sultan Ahmad Shah Sultan Abu Bakar, the father of Sultan Abdullah, was elected as the seventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

He urged the people to throng the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Kuantan as early as 7am tomorrow as Sultan Abdullah and his consort, Tengku Ampuan Pahang Tunku Azizah Maimunah Iskandariah, leave for Kuala Lumpur.

At Istana Negara in the federal capital tomorrow, Sultan Abdullah is scheduled to take his oath of office as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong and sign the instrument of the oath of office in a ceremony witnessed by the other Malay Rulers at the 252nd special meeting of the Conference of Rulers at the Balairung Seri (Throne Room) of the palace.

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Sultan Abdullah, who will reign for a five-year term from tomorrow, succeeds Sultan Muhammad V, the Sultan of Kelantan, who stepped down on January 6 as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong after having reigned for about two years from December 13, 2016.

Tomorrow will also see the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, take his oath of office as the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara, also to reign for a five-year term. — Bernama