KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia’s former king Sultan Ahmad Shah passed away on Wednesday, a state official announced. He was 88. 

Father of incumbent King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the late king died at a hospital at 8.50 am (0050GMT), Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, Pahang state chief, said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail offered her condolences on Twitter.

Born in 1930, Ahmad took the throne of the Pahang state from his father Sultan Abu Bakar in 1974.

Ruling Malaysia between 1979-1984, he was the seventh king of the monarchy.

In Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy system, the king is elected among the nine sultans of the nine Malaysian states in a rotational basis every five years.

* Writing by Burak Bir