Malaysia, the only country where kings change every five years, has had a new head of state since last week. The Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Iskandar, 65, ascended the throne four decades after his father, the late Sultan Mahmud Iskandar. The new monarch, who will be in office until 2029, is one of the richest rulers in the world with a personal fortune of over 750 million euros, according to Forbes magazine. The billionaire is known for his eccentricities, but also for his openness and his desire to get involved in politics. Although the role of the Malaysian kings is traditionally only a protocol role, Ibrahim Iskandar has already announced that he does not want to “waste” these five years as a “puppet” and has promised that he will focus on “fighting corruption” and “” Strengthening unity.” national”.
King Ibrahim, the 17th Agong (meaning “Supreme Ruler”) of Malaysia since independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, is the second governor of the southern state of Johor to ascend the throne after his father between 1984 and 1989. He is of Malay-British descent and the first boy from the marriage between Sultan Mahmud Iskandar and Cornish Josephine Trevorrow, who had a total of four children.
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Born on November 22, 1958, Ibrahim received extensive military training in his country and in the United States during his youth. He later graduated from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston (USA), where he specialized in Southeast Asian strategic studies and international maritime law. In 1982, he married Raja Zarith Sofiah, a member of the royal family of Malaysia's state of Perak. The new queen, a graduate of Oxford University, speaks five languages, writes children's stories and is known for her involvement in various social causes. The Kings have five sons and one daughter, born between 1984 and 2001. Her eldest son, Crown Prince Ismail, has taken over the regency of Johor while his father rules the country.
Malaysia is a confederation of 13 states and three federal territories that has adopted a formula unique in the world: an elective and rotating constitutional monarchy. Nine of the states are led by ethnic Malay rulers who rule their region for life and whose lineage dates back to the 15th century Malay Sultanates. According to the constitution, these nine dynastic lines share the throne, and the head of state is transferred after a non-renewable period of five years. This means that the crown is not passed down through the bloodline after the king's death or abdication, but instead falls to the leader of another royal family. Although the rotation follows a set order, the future regent requires the approval of the majority of the nine sultans in a secret vote. Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar received the green light last October.
The new monarch is an unusual and not at all discreet man who often shares his luxurious life on his Instagram account, where he has almost a million followers. A lover of luxury vehicles, he drives a yellow Ferrari Testarossa and a Harley-Davidson, and his whims are known to include a collection of 300 luxury cars, one of which Adolf Hitler gave to his great-grandfather stands out. He also owns a fleet of private jets, including at least three Gulfstreams and a gold-and-blue Boeing 737, which he used to fly to Kuala Lumpur for his proclamation. In his palace, he has recreated a cave inspired by the Flintstones cartoon and a museum in honor of his favorite childhood series. According to the Singaporean newspaper Straight Times, the two-story building with 15 rooms and two presidential suites also houses 60,000 original Marvel comics.
Sultan of Johor Ibrahim Iskandar during his swearing-in ceremony as the 17th King of Malaysia at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on January 31, 2024. CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA (CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA / Cordon Press)
But his legacy goes much further. Because Johor state laws do not prohibit royals from engaging in business activities, their portfolio of business interests is diverse, ranging from mining exploitation to palm oil production to football teams. Bloomberg estimates that his family's wealth exceeds 5.3 billion euros and that his investments in public companies exceed 97 million euros and in private companies amount to almost 450 million euros (he has a 25% stake, for example). at U Mobile, one of the largest telephone providers in Malaysia). According to Bloomberg research, his investment portfolio in the real estate sector is almost €1 billion and he owns properties in central Singapore worth €3.7 billion. In addition, the Sultanate of Johor is the only one allowed to maintain its own private army.
Nevertheless, King Ibrahim and his family enjoy great popularity in their home state, the second largest and one of the most prosperous in the country. He is known for his religious moderation – he has expressed support for other religions by participating in Christmas and Diwali celebrations – and for taking a tough stance against conservatism and social discrimination. He became an outspoken critic of the Malaysian Islamic Party, which won the most seats in the 2022 elections and advocates for measures such as banning alcohol, imposing Sharia law and a dress code for women.
When he was sworn in on January 31, he promised to “firmly defend a fair administration and peace in the country.” But the king's power in this country of 31 million people is mostly symbolic. It is not only the supreme command of the armed forces, but also represents the unit of the federation, in which around 70% of the population are Malays, 22.6% Chinese and 6.6% Indians. His figure enjoys particular prestige among the Malaysian and Muslim majority, as one of their prerogatives is the sultans to act as guardians of the local branch of Islam.
The new monarch, who excels at speaking bluntly, has hinted in several interviews that he will seek to occupy a more influential position than his predecessors. He is well-connected economically with Singapore's upper echelons and with Chinese businessmen, and is seeking to restart the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed train project. In the political sphere, his main priority is fighting corruption. He has suggested that the Anti-Corruption Commission and Petronas (the state-owned oil and gas company, the cornerstone of the country's economy) report directly to him, rather than to Parliament, which he says is plagued by dishonest officials. Although he professes to have a good relationship with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, he stressed that during his reign the interest of the people will take precedence over that of politicians and has now presented himself to the press as “a man of the people.” “You There are 222 in parliament, there are more than 30 million outside. “I’m not with you, I’m with them,” he told Straight Times.