King to have special meeting with Rulers on June 16

KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has called for a special meeting with the Rulers here on June 16 as a follow-up to his three-day meeting with political leaders.

All the Rulers have been informed of the meeting which will not involve the respective Mentri Besar.

According to a royal contact, the meeting will be an informal affair where everyone will be free to express their views.

It is understood that His Majesty Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is expected to brief his fellow Rulers on the outcome of his meeting with the party leaders, which started yesterday.

The King granted audiences to the leaders of opposition parties PKR, DAP and Amanah yesterday after his weekly audience with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The meetings will continue until tomorrow.

His Majesty is almost certain to seek the views of the Rulers on various issues facing the nation, particularly the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccination programme.

The rollout of the vaccination exercise is likely to crop out at the meeting.

It is also possible that the Rulers may discuss the Emergency, which ends on Aug 1.

"This will certainly be on their minds but there is still over a month to go and they are more keen to know about the updates of the pandemic.

"Saving the lives of Malaysians is the main concern of the Rulers."

However, it is not clear how many of the Rulers have confirmed their attendance.

"Only the Sultan of Johor has his own plane. So, given the logistics issue, the number of those who will attend will only be clearer over the next few days, ” according to another royal household source.

The source also said that standard operating procedure (SOP) arrangements will need to be complied with to ensure the highest safety standards are adopted.

It is also not clear whether any high-level officials from the respective ministries and agencies will be asked to be on stand by, like in the past.