Who is Anwar Ibrahim, new Prime Minister of Malaysia?

The political context

In the elections held on November 19, Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) party won the biggest share of seats (82), short of the 112 majority it need to form a government on its own. Over the past five days, there have been intense deliberations that included discussions concerning various combinations of parties and political alliances to help the party come to power.

Political and ideological differences, however, resulted in a stalemate, forcing the country’s constitutional monarch to step in; he summoned the country’s leaders and asked them to come to a resolution.

Who is Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s new prime minister?

A veteran leader in Malaysia’s politics, Ibrahim began his political career as a student activist, and in 1971, founded the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, known by its acronym ABIM, in Malay. In the early years of his political career, he started leading protests against rural poverty and on other socio-economic causes in the country, according to a report by Al Jazeera.

Ibrahim’s political influence caught the eye of then prime minister Mahathir Mohammad, who convinced him to join the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party. In his role as finance minister, Ibrahim independently executed decisions concerning the country’s governance, which in many ways helped Malaysia weather the Asian financial crisis.

However, as the financial crisis of the 1990s worsened, the relationship between Mahathir and Ibrahim deteriorated, so much so that in September 1998, Anwar was fired and accused of corruption and sodomy, a crime in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim signing a document as he clocks in to the Prime Minister office on his first day holding the premier position at Putrajaya, Malaysia November 25, 2022. (Malaysian Department of Information/Wazari Wazir/Handout via Reuters)

Back then, after Anwar’s arrest, thousands of protestors took to the streets saying it was politically motivated. According to a BBC report, his conviction was overturned in 2004, and Anwar returned to politics, leading his own reformist party that came close to defeating the UMNO in the 2013 election. But once again, new sodomy charges were filed against him, and he was jailed in 2015.

According to an Al Jazeera report, Mahathir and Anwar briefly reconciled during the fierce opposition to then-prime minister Najib Razak over the 1MDB scandal. Mahathir, who had promised to hand over the country’s top leadership role to Anwar, once again backed out of his promise.

Challenges for Malaysia’s new PM Anwar Ibrahim

Analysts believe the path is not going to be an easy one for Anwar. He has been handed the leadership of a country that is still reeling from the long-drawn impact of Covid-19. He is also facing political leaders who are deeply divided.

Malaysia’s citizens also want to see the new government address corruption, defend democratic rights and ensure the independence of key institutions such as parliament and the judiciary, the Al Jazeera report stated.

Malaysia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Wan Azizah waves as they arrive at a gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Still, Anwar’s appointment has come as a relief to some in the country: “Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country where most people are ethnic Malay Muslim, but there are significant numbers of people of Chinese and Indian origin as well as Indigenous communities,” the Al Jazeera report states.

Non-Malays had feared that if the rival Perikatan Nasional, which is dominated by the conservative Islamist party PAS, were leading the country, it would have meant a more conservative, religious and perhaps, a less democratic country for them.