THE THE MOST An enigmatic figure in Southeast Asian politics for half a century, Anwar Ibrahim has now held the post of Prime Minister of Malaysia for a little over a year. Simply retaining power in a country where politics is brittle is an achievement. Malaysian political parties have been torn apart in recent years and there has been a succession of prime ministers. Mr. Anwar, 76, is therefore focused on consolidating his ruling coalition. Yet the two questions that dogged his extraordinary journey to power (which included years in prison on politically motivated charges) are now even more salient. What does it represent? And what will he do with power?
If Mr. Anwar were clear and consistent, the answers would be obvious. For most of his career, reform was his call sign. He advocated modernizing Malaysia’s institutions to make them more democratic and less subject to political interference. He vowed to break the sordid link between money and politics. He promised a fairer but more productive economy. The political group led by Mr. Anwar, called Pakatan Harapan (PH)– or Alliance of Hope – is also theoretically committed to achieving these goals. It is reformist and multi-ethnic, with support from urban Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities as well as liberal Malays. He opposes racialized politics which, for decades, has seen benefits siphoned off to benefit the Malay (and Muslim) ethnic majority.
But in power, the dynamic Mr. Anwar has not yet engaged in serious policy. Instead, he focused largely on domestic political policy, with admittedly impressive results. In the hung Parliament resulting from the elections held in November 2022, there was not Mr. Anwar’s own party but a polarizing Islamic party, NOT, who had the most seats. Mr. Anwar nevertheless took an unlikely path to power by persuading outside parties PH repel NOT and help him form a government. Other parties continue to join his “unity” government, which now controls two-thirds of Parliament. On December 12, Mr. Anwar reshuffled his cabinet for the first time, a move intended to signal increased strength.
Anthony Loke, Minister of Transport and an ally of Anwar, says that “with such a strong position in Parliament, we should be able to focus on governance, on the transition to major policies and… on the development of the economy” . Mr. Anwar’s attempts to expand his coalition have instead pushed him into unsavory compromises.
One of the main supporters of the unity government is the rear wing of the United Malays National Organization (UM NO), who dominated post-independence politics until the ouster of the coalition he led, Barisan Nasional, in 2018. Mr Anwar played a role in Barisan’s downfall. Today, its leader, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is its deputy prime minister. Mr. Zahid faced dozens of charges of breach of trust, corruption and money laundering (which he denied). In September, the High Court freed him after the government chose, without any explanation, not to pursue the case.
Mr Anwar’s embrace of Barisan, an emblem of what has befallen Malaysian politics, is not the only thing causing consternation among the reformist’s former would-be supporters. The courts remain subject to political interference. Too much power is concentrated in the Prime Minister’s office (Mr Anwar also holds the Finance portfolio). And much-needed legislation on dark money in politics has not advanced.
Above all, as Southeast Asia specialist Bridget Welsh points out, despite the accession to power of a certain number of Malaysians, Mr. Anwar has not done enough to promote tolerance within a polarized society. Indeed, Mr. Anwar, who began his political career as a young Islamic arsonist, is increasingly pandering to Malay chauvinism and religiosity.
Mr. Anwar’s supporters say his desire to overhaul Malaysia’s institutions remains intact, but the nature of his coalition precludes serious progress for now. Even if the support of the unity government seems considerable, it is fragile: if the supporters of the reforms UM NO came out, other parties would follow. His supporters say his best strategy is to govern decently enough, within the political constraints he faces, to achieve a self-governing Harapan majority in the next election. Serious reform could then begin. In the meantime, Mr. Anwar can do things like attract foreign investment.
But elections are not expected to take place until 2027. And Mr Anwar’s apparent abandonment of reforms comes at a cost. This reinforces Malaysians’ growing disillusionment with politics. And how could this not be the case? Their long-promised champion of change now looks more like an obstacle to that change.
Correction (January 2, 2024): In an early version of this report, we incorrectly claimed that PAS, an Islamist party, won more seats in the 2022 elections than Pakatan Harapan. This has been fixed.