Malaysia MPs curb sultans

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter) - Malaysia's parliament approved constitutional amendments to strip the country's nine hereditary rulers of their immunity from the law.

At a special sitting, 133 MPs voted in favour of the bill and 16 abstained. No one opposed the bill, which was proposed by the Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. The amendments seek to divest the nine sultans of their legal immunity and their power to pardon family members of criminal charges.

The sultans, who take turns to be king for five years, had already rejected the proposals on Monday.