Sultan, PM visit king in S'pore

Sultan, PM visit king in S'pore

SINGAPORE: A sultan, a prime minister and a stream of other high- level visitors have visited the King of Malaysia in a Singapore hospital this week ahead of his heart surgery, an official said on Friday.

King Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, 75, is scheduled to undergo heart surgery at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Saturday, his private secretary Raja Hydar Raja Iskandar said.

Both Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the Sultan of Brunei visited the king earlier this week, Raja Hydar said, adding that many other government officials had come to pay their respects.

King Salahuddin, who is the sultan of Selangor state, assumed the throne in 1999 under Malaysia's unique royal rotation system. Each of the nine state sultans take a turn as the monarch of this Southeast Asian country for a five-year term.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. The king's role is mainly ceremonial, while the power to govern resides with federal parliament and the prime minister. --AP