Malaysians bid farewell to 13th King and Queen

Updated: 2011-12-12 15:45

(Xinhua)

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KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysians held a grand ceremony Monday to marked the end of the five-year term of the country's 13th Supreme Head of State, Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Malaysians bid farewell to 13th King and Queen 

Malaysia's outgoing king Sultan Mizan salutes as Queen Nur Zahirah (R) stands to an honour guard during a farewell ceremony at the parliament square in Kuala Lumpur Dec 12, 2011. [Agencies] 

The official ceremony was held at the Parliament Square. Mizan inspected the guard of honor, then bid farewell to the cabinet members, lawmakers and foreign diplomatic corps, accompanied by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Mohamad Yassin.

After the ceremony, the royal couple left for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to fly back to the northern Terengganu State. Many Malaysians lined the roads near the Parliament Square, waving national flags, to bid farewell to their 13th King and Queen.

Mizan, who became the Sultan of Terengganu in 1998, was named the 13th Supreme Head of State on Dec 13, 2006, and proclaimed to be king on April 2007.

During his term, Mizan had visited China in August 2008 and attended the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games.

The Malaysia's Conference of Rulers had elected Sultan of Kedah State, Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, who previously served as Deputy Supreme Head of State during Mizan's term, to be the country's 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong. He will be sworn in Tuesday and begin his five-year term.