(AFP) - The crowning of a new king this month is unlikely to pose any problems for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as he has whipped the monarchy into line, analysts say.

Western media suggestions that the successor to Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, who died last month, could favour the hardline Islamic PAS at Mahathir's expense were dismissed as "rubbish" by political scientist P Ramasamy.

"Royalty have a ceremonial role only and that role is dwindling," the Malaysia National University professor told AFP. "They know exactly what their position is." Another prominent local analyst agreed, although he somewhat undermined his assertion that the monarchy is toothless by requesting anonymity on such a "sensitive" subject.

"The worst a king could do is be a nuisance," he said. "Perhaps by not turning up at functions or that sort of thing, but he would do more damage to the monarchy than the government.

"Also, his biggest critics would be the other sultans, who would see his actions as endangering their own positions."

Under the constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is rotated among the heads of the royal families of nine states every five years.

Until a new king is named by the Conference of Rulers on Dece 12, the deputy, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu is acting as Agong.

Possible threat

The possibility that he would be the next king gave rise to the speculation of a possible threat to Mahathir, as Terengganu is a Muslim stronghold ruled by PAS.

PAS, which is the main opposition party and controls two of the country's 13 states, wants more rigid Islamic governance in Malaysia.

The king is head of state and the country's symbolic head of Islam, as well as the nominal head of the military and all three branches of government.

He signs bills and appoints ministers, judges and ambassadors.

Acting on the advice of the cabinet, the king legally still enjoys discretionary powers over the appointment of prime ministers and can withhold his consent to any request to dissolve parliament.

While the order of royal rotation is to a certain extent set so that all relevant states have a turn at providing the king, the final decision on the new monarch rests with the Conference of Rulers of all states.

Although the Sultan of Terengganu has been tipped for the post, one analyst told AFP that because of previous hitches in rotation it was more likely to be the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin. Mahathir himself agreed with this prediction Friday, but said the final decision would be made by the conference.

Real power

In either case, real power is wielded by Mahathir, who has been prime minister for the past 20 years. Twice he has clashed with royalty over their rights, and both times he won.

In 1983 kings were stripped of their veto over government bills and 10 years later their immunity from prosecution was removed.

Malaysia's unique system of rotating royalty would be enough to set heads spinning in Europe, where the antics of the royals and their offspring are daily tabloid newspaper fodder.

Although the newspapers here were full of the pomp and ceremony of the royal funeral last month, princes and princesses can usually get up to aristocratic antics without the sudden pop of a paparazzi flashbulb.

But this was not always the case. When Mahathir was in confrontation with the royals, the press was full of stories of their lavish lifestyles and bad behaviour, including dark rumours of murderers going unpunished.

Mahathir appeared to genuinely like the last king, however, calling him a "good friend" and shedding tears after announcing his death.

"The government liked the king because he was a pushover," said one analyst. "On the other hand, if royalty had the power they would just do away with Mahathir.

"The prime minister has in past privately suggested that Malaysia should be a republic, but why disturb things now when the kings are serving you?"