THE ANNOUNCEMENT was unexpected and unexplained. On January 6th Sultan Muhammad V, Malaysia’s king, stepped down from the throne. It was the first time a Malaysian king had abdicated. He had only reigned for two years.
一则公告的颁布出乎人意料，没任何说明。1月6日，马来西亚国王苏丹穆罕默德五世退位。这是马来西亚国王第一次退位。他在位仅有两年时间。
The king presides over one of the world’s most peculiar monarchies, established at independence in 1957. Malaysia is a federation made up of 13 states. The titular head of the government in nine of them is a sultan (democratically appointed chief ministers actually run the show). The nine sultans choose one of their own to serve a five-year term as king whenever the job becomes vacant. In practice, the nine states take it in turns. The king’s job is largely ceremonial, although he can delay legislation and refuse a prime minister’s request to dissolve parliament.
马来西亚是世界上最有独特性的一个君主制国家，于1957年独立时建立。马来西亚是由13个州组成的联邦国家，其中九个州的名义政府首脑是苏丹（民主选举任命的首席部长实际上掌握实权）。每当国王一职出现空缺时，九位苏丹会选出一人当任，为期五年。实际上，九个州的苏丹轮流上位。国王的职责主要是礼节性的，不过可以推迟法令，或是拒绝首相解散议会的要求。
No reason was given for the abdication, but many suspect the king’s love life had raised too many eyebrows. In 2008, when still crown prince of Kelantan, the most conservative and devoutly Islamic state in the country, he had divorced his wife, a Muslim princess from neighbouring Thailand. In 2016 he became the first king to ascend to the throne unmarried. Then, in November, he took a two-month leave of absence following medical treatment. During that period the 49-year-old snuck off to Russia and married Oksana Voevodina, a 25-year-old former Miss Moscow.
对于退位一事，没有任何理由，不过，很多人猜测是由国王的感情生活引发外界颇多关注。吉兰丹是该国最保守和最虔诚的伊斯兰州，2008年当他仍是吉兰丹王储的时候，便与妻子——来自邻国泰国的穆斯林公主——离婚。2016年，他成为第一位以单身身份登基的国王。此后，在11月，他在接受治疗后，隐身了两个月。在此期间，这位49岁的年轻人偷偷溜到俄罗斯，与25岁的前莫斯科小姐Oksana Voevodina结婚了。
The wedding poses an “existential question” for the monarchy, says Francis Hutchinson of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a think-tank in Singapore. Sultans are supposed to be defenders of the culture and religion of the country’s ethnic-Malay majority. Older and rural Malays in particular hold sultans in high esteem and see them as a cultural anchor. One view holds that in a state without a sultan, society becomes nihilistic. Modern royals are thus expected to behave with a certain decorum—although many of their forebears married glamorous young foreigners. At any rate, King Muhammad’s conduct must have jarred with some. The other sultans are thought to have issued an ultimatum, forcing him to quit.
新加坡智库Yusof Ishak研究所的Francis Hutchinson认为，婚礼暴露了君主制“存在的问题”。苏丹应该是这个以马来人为主的文化和宗教的捍卫者。尤其是老年人和农村的马来人对苏丹有极高的尊重，并将其视为文化风向标。有一种观点认为，在没有苏丹的国家，社会会进入虚无主义。因此，现代皇室成员的行为应恪守礼仪——尽管他们的许多祖先都与年轻的外国人结婚了。无论如何，穆罕默德国王的行为必定令一些人感到震惊。其他一些苏丹发出了最后通牒，强迫他退位。
The election of a new monarch, scheduled for January 24th, may cause a further hiccup. The next in line under the system of rotation is the sultan of Pahang, who served as king once before, 40 years ago. He is elderly and in ill health, however. His family is reported to be contemplating getting him to abdicate, to allow his son to become sultan and then king in short order. Typical: you wait 60 years for an abdication, and then two come along at once.
定于1月24日举行的新君主选举可能会引起更大的风波。轮换制度下的下一个是彭亨苏丹，他曾在40年前曾担任过国王。然而，他老了，身体不好。据报道，他的家人正在考虑让他退位，让他的儿子在短时间内成为下一任苏丹，然后成为马来西亚国王。一种典型的情况时：你等国王退位等了60年，结果一次退了两个。
编译：方涵
编辑：翻吧君
来源：经济学人（2019.01.10）
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