Brunei Sultan pays courtesy call on Dr M

Meeting of minds: Dr Mahathir and Sultan Hassanal waving to the press outside the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.

PUTRAJAYA: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Perdana Leadership Foundation.

The Sultan is the first foreign head of state to pay a visit to Dr Mahathir, who was sworn in as the seventh Prime Minister on Thursday.

The Sultan personally drove a black Mercedes-Benz with the registration number XII NAM6 and arrived at 11.48am with his son Prince Abdul Mateen in the passenger’s seat.

Dr Mahathir welcomed the Brunei Ruler at the foundation’s lobby as he arrived with a large entourage and security personnel.

The meeting took place after Dr Mahathir had a meeting with Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and ministries’ secretaries-general and directors-general, which ended at about 11am.

The meeting between the two leaders took more than an hour with media camped outside the foundation building.

At a press conference later, Dr Mahathir said he felt honoured by the visit because the Sultan of Brunei had set aside protocol to meet him.

“Usually, foreign heads of state would not do such things but he decided to do so before our government is fully formed,” he said.