RULERS from nine out of 11 peninsula states take turns every five years to be anointed Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Each ruler waits to ascend the throne every 45 years, codified by the Constitution and formalised by a Conference of Rulers' election.
A crown prince who eventually becomes sultan may be exalted as king in the coming years or decades.
The king is picked from seven states who designate their monarchs as sultan while the remaining two — Perlis and Negri Sembilan — call their rulers Raja and Yang di-Pertuan Besar, respectively.
In most states, the throne's hereditary lineage flows from father to son, unlike Perak and Negri Sembilan.
Crown succession in Perak, the second oldest throne, is based on patrilineal principle of inheritance, while Negri Sembilan is an elective monarchy, voted on by four territorial chiefs, or undang.
Five kings died during their reigns, while Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan resigned in 2019 after three years.
Their departures accelerated the rotational cycle. Only Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Halim Mu'adzam Shah, inheritor of the nation's oldest throne, completed two reigns from 1970 to 1975 and from 2011 to 2016.
There are etiquettes for ineligibility: a ruler is passed over if he is a minor, had formally notified that he does not wish to be elected and ruled out by a Conference of Rulers' secret ballot. His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the sultan of Johor, will be installed as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Saturday after he ascended the throne on Jan 31, following the end of the reign of Sultan Al-Sultan Abdullah's, the Sultan of Pahang, incumbency.
Saturday's installation will also formalise his consort, Raja Zarith Sofiah, as Raja Permaisuri Agong, the queen of Malaysia.
Famed for being close to his subjects through his annual road tour in his homirre state, Sultan Ibrahim is expected to continue this tradition of mingling with and inquiring about people's lives, this time on a nationwide scale.
Sultan Ibrahim also intends to do his duties differently.
His Majesty has pledged an active interest in the government's political stability, and the eradication of corruption. In this respect, his subjects have lauded his ascendancy as they look forward to a resolution by royal touch.