(Kuala Lumpur) Reformist leader Anwar Ibrahim has been named Malaysia’s prime minister, ending a long uncertainty after Saturday’s parliamentary elections failed to give a majority to either party.
Mr. Anwar, who was until now the main leader of the opposition, is appointed “tenth prime minister of Malaysia”, said the Royal Palace in a press release. He was sworn in before the king on Thursday afternoon, dressed in traditional Malaysian attire.
“I will not tolerate corruption or abuse… No one will be marginalized under my government,” Mr Anwar told a press conference.
“It is a government of national unity. All are welcome, provided you accept the basic rules of good governance, no corruption, and Malaysia for all Malaysians,” Mr Anwar added, noting that he would focus on the economy.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Mr. Anwar in a statement, saying that the United States intended to deepen its “comprehensive partnership” with Malaysia “on the basis of the democratic principles we share, respect for the rights of the person and the rule of law”.
Anwar Ibrahim thus realizes at 75 his dream of becoming prime minister, which he has cherished for a quarter of a century and which crowns a turbulent political career, during which he has made several stays in prison.
“His biggest challenge will be to pull Malaysia out of the economic malaise following the pandemic,” James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, told AFP.
Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope), the multi-ethnic reformist coalition led by Mr. Anwar, achieved the best result in Saturday’s legislative elections with 82 seats. But it remains far from an absolute majority, in a Parliament of 222 seats.
The King of Malaysia, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, summoned Mr. Anwar and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to the Palace on Wednesday, whose Perikatan Nasional (National Alliance) party came second in the elections with 73 seats. According to Mr. Muhyiddin, the ruler had asked the two men to form a “unity government”.
Perikatan Nasional is backed by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which advocates strict application of Sharia law.
Anwar Ibrahim began negotiations on Monday with the formation so far in power, Barisan Nasional. This formation, led by the Malayan Unified National Organization (Umno) splashed by a vast affair of corruption, came far behind with 30 seats, its worst electoral result since the independence of the country in 1957.
The King of Malaysia has the discretion to appoint a Prime Minister who he believes has the support of the majority of MPs.
Arm wrestling with Mahathir
During his turbulent career, the new prime minister came close to coming to power twice, each time under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
First in the late 1990s, as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. But the two men had fallen out over how to handle the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and Mr Anwar was sacked.
He was then sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, then an additional nine years in prison for sodomy, a crime in this Muslim country. But according to some observers, it was above all his impatience to replace Mr. Mahathir that would have earned him the wrath of his former protector.
His first sodomy conviction overturned by the Supreme Court, Mr Anwar was re-sentenced to five years in prison in 2015 but was granted a royal pardon after three years behind bars.
He had returned to business in 2018, on the occasion of a new alliance with Mr Mahathir, 93, when his former enemy promised to hand over his post to him later. But the Prime Minister had not kept his word and the alliance between the two men had collapsed.
Waltz of Prime Ministers
For four years, the country has been shaken by political turbulence and a waltz of governments, which has led to three prime ministers succeeding each other in four years.
After more than sixty years in command, Umno had been heavily sanctioned at the ballot box and ousted from power in 2018, marking the first alternation in the country’s history.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, implicated in the embezzlement of several billion dollars from the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, is serving a twelve-year prison sentence.