JOHOR BARU: The meeting between the sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad slated tomorrow was prompted by an invitation from the ruler.
The prime minister's press secretary Endie Shazlie Akhbar said the invitation for the private audience with the ruler was extended to the prime minister about two weeks ago.
He said that since then, both sides were unable to commit to a date for the meeting until recently when it was decided that Dr Mahathir's audience with the ruler could be granted tomorrow.
Both the ruler and Dr Mahathir are meeting for the first time since the latter became prime minister following the change in government in the May 9 general election last year.
"It is going to be a private four-eyed meeting between both Sultan Ibrahim and Dr Mahathir. Tuanku (Sultan Ibrahim) had requested two weeks ago for the meeting to take place.
"Even the Johor MB (menteri besar, Datuk Osman Sapian) is not scheduled to be part of the private meeting, though some aspects of protocol during the prime minister's visit is being handled by the MB's Office .
"The prime minister's programme in Johor only consists of his audience with the sultan," Endie Shazlie said when contacted by the New Straits Times Press (NSTP).
Endie told the NSTP there was no fixed itinerary for the audience that was granted to Dr Mahathir at Istana Bukit Serene, here which is expected to start at 3pm.
He also denied that the meeting was related to the upcoming election for a new Yang di-Pertuan Agong by the Conference of Rulers on Jan 24.
"The meeting had been planned before Sultan Muhammad V stepped down as Yang di-Pertuan Agong (last Sunday)," he said.
Based on the rotation list of the nine hereditary rulers, sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah is the next in line to qualify as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, followed by Sultan Ibrahim.
Focus has been most on both the Pahang and Johor rulers as it has been speculated that Sultan Ahmad, 88, was unwell as his son, Regent of Pahang Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has been the acting sultan since January 2017.
However, the New Straits Times reported today that the Pahang royal household will meet this week to discuss the possibility of Tengku Abdullah ascending as the sultan of Pahang.
The proposal if accepted, would see Tengku Abdullah's installation as the sixth modern sultan of Pahang on Friday and effectively pave the way for his election as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, based on the rotation system.
Sultan Ahmad has also been informed of the matter.