Malaysia welcomes new king Sultan Ibrahim in unique rotating monarchy

Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, Malaysia's new king, takes on a largely ceremonial role in the country's unique rotational monarchy system.

Sultan Ibrahim, the wealthy and outspoken ruler of Malaysia's southern Johor state, was sworn in as the country's new king in a ceremony on Wednesday.

Malaysia practices a unique rotational form of monarchy, in which the heads of the country's nine royal families take turns to be king for a five-year reign.

The monarchy plays a largely ceremonial role, but has become more influential in recent years due to prolonged political instability during which the king has wielded rarely used discretionary powers.

Nine of Malaysia's 13 states are headed by a traditional ethnic Malay ruler, mostly known as the sultan, in one of the world's largest monarchy systems.

The constitutional monarchy was established after Malaysia's independence from Britain. Every five years, the nine rulers elect one among themselves to be Malaysia's king through a secret ballot.

The order of rotation among the sultans was originally determined by seniority, based on how long they had been ruling.

But that rule was dropped after all the royal families completed a term each and they now take turns based on the initial order.