"Sultan Muhammad V became the first monarch to abdicate in Malaysian history, cutting short his five-year term in an unexpected move after just two years on the throne"
NYT:
He reportedly married a 25-year-old former Russian beauty queen in November while on a two-month medical leave.
...
Under a unique system maintained since Malaysia’s independence from Britain in 1957, nine hereditary state rulers take turns as the country’s king for five-year terms.
The monarch’s role is largely ceremonial . . . But the monarch is highly regarded, particularly among the ethnic Malay Muslim majority, as the supreme upholder of Malay tradition.
