It is the first time that an Agong stepped down from the throne before the end of his five-year reign that is based on a unique rotation system involving nine sultans in the Malaysian federation.
But Sultan Muhammad V’s reign was not the shortest. In 1960, Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah of Selangor died just about 140 days after he was appointed as the second Agong.
Sultan Muhammad V was 47 when he was elected as the 15th Agong by the Conference of Rulers in October 2016, becoming among the younger sultans to helm the position. He took over from Kedah’s Sultan Abdul Halim Shah some two months later. His official installation ceremony was held on April 24, 2017.
During his short period on the throne, Sultan Muhammad V witnessed the peaceful transfer of federal power to Pakatan Harapan, following the historic defeat of Barisan Nasional in the general election last year.
Sultan Muhammad V’s resignation today is the first since the post of Agong was created in 1957, the year Malaya gained independence.
He will also be remembered as the only Agong to reign without a queen, or Raja Permaisuri Agong.
At the end of last November, social media was abuzz with pictures of his marriage to Russian beauty Oksana Voevodina.
The wedding was reported by the British press, but there has been no official statement from the palace to confirm or deny the reports.
Sultan Muhammad V’s accession to the Kelantan throne was also not without controversy.
He was previously known as Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra, before he was proclaimed the Sultan of Kelantan in a move challenged by his father, Sultan Ismail Petra.
Sultan Ismail had suffered a stroke, and was deemed not fit by Kelantan’s Council of Succession to remain on the throne under Article 29A of the state constitution.
Sultan Ismail disagreed with the council’s decision to declare his son as the Sultan of Kelantan, and in 2010 his lawyers filed a petition to the Federal Court to declare the appointment as unconstitutional.
Tengku Faris’ proclamation went ahead in September 2010, when he also took the name Sultan Muhammad V.