KUALA LUMPUR: The Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail today chaired the 259th Meeting of the Conference of Rulers at Istana Negara here.

Before the meeting started at 11 am, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin took the salute at a Grand Guard of Honour (KKU) mounted by the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment at the palace's Main Square.

Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin then planted a Keriang tree on the grounds of Istana Negara to symbolise his chairing of the meeting.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah also graced the tree-planting ceremony.

The KKU and the tree-planting ceremony were mooted by Al-Sultan Abdullah and had never been held prior to his appointment as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The KKU was held for the first time at the 254th edition of the meeting, while the tree planting initiative was introduced at the 255th meeting.

The two-day meeting is being attended by all Malay Rulers except Kelantan, Pahang and Johor.

The Rulers in attendance are Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah and Sultan of Kedah Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.

Kelantan was represented by Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan Tengku Dr Muhammad Faiz Petra Sultan Ismail Petra; Pahang, by Pahang Regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah and Johor, by Tunku Temenggong Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Al-Haj Sultan Ibrahim.

Also in attendance are the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak.

All the Malay Rulers are accompanied by their respective Menteri Besar while the Yang Dipertua Negeri are accompanied by their respective Chief Ministers, except for Sarawak who was accompanied by the Deputy Premier.

The last meeting of the Conference of Rulers was held on March 9 and 10, chaired by the Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.

-- BERNAMA