Election of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia)

Coat of Arms of Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Molecule Extraction, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Malaysia is one of the world's few remaining Elected Monarchies. The country is made up of 13 States, each of which is ruled by its own head. Of the 13 states:

• 9 are monarchies ruled by either a Sultan, Yang di-Pertuan Besar (Grand Ruler) or Raja. 
• These are usually hereditary positions.
• 4 are parliamentary democracy ruled by a Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor)
• These are elected positions.

The Federal Government is ruled be the The Yang di-Pertuan Agong. You will sometimes see him referred to by English language media as the "King of Malaysia." 

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is an elected position. The monarch is elected by the Conference of Rulers. The Conference of Rulers is made up of the 13 heads of the smaller states in Malaysia. However only the 9 state monarchs get a vote in electing the new Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

While there is a election and vote, there is only one name on the ballot. The position of Yang di-Pertuan Agong rotates between the 9 state monarchs. Each term is 5 years long. If the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dies before the 5 years (or abdicates), the position rotates to the next state. His heir to the state monarchy does not become Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

(There are some rules that would allow the Conference of Rulers to declare a state Monarch is unfit to become Yang di-Pertuan Agong, but that has yet to happen.)

Since the first cycle of nine Yang di-Pertuan Agong (1957–1994), the order among the eligible state rulers has followed the order established by that cycle, namely:

Current Cycle

#	State	Name	Reign	Length	Notes
10th	Negeri Sembilan	Ja'afar	April 1994 – April 1999	5 Years
11th	Selangor	Salahuddin	April 1999 – November 2001	2 years, 210 days	a
12th	Perlis	Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin	December 2001 – December 2006	5 Years
13th	Terengganu	Mizan Zainal Abidin	December 2006 –  December 2011	5 Years
14th	Kedah	Abdul Halim	December 2011 –   December 2016	5 years	b
15th	Kelantan	Muhammad V	December 2016 –   January 2019	2 Years,  25 Days	c
16th	Pahang	Abdullah	January 30th, 2019 – Jan 31st 2024	5 years
17th	Johor	Ibrahim	January 31st, 2024  – 2029 (Expected)	Current	-
18th	Perak		-	-	-

Notes: 

a. Died in Office

b. His was his 2nd term as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as he was Sultan of Kedah during the last cycle. 

c. Abdicated,  reportedly to marry a former Russian beauty queen.