Anwar caps arduous political journey with premiership

Anwar Ibrahim took his oath of office as the country’s 10th prime minister today, after having been what many described as the longest prime minister-in-waiting for almost 25 years.

The 75-year-old Pakatan Harapan chairperson and PKR president is no stranger to national administration as he was the deputy prime minister prior to his sacking in 1998 and his imprisonment later on charges he said were politically motivated attempts to end his career.

Anwar had captured the Tambun parliamentary seat in the just-concluded 15th general election (GE15), leading Harapan to win 82 seats in an election that ended in a hung Parliament that was resolved by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah following deliberation with the Malay rulers.

The new prime minister, known for his oratory skills and his ability to keep his audience spellbound, was born on Aug 10, 1947, in Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, in Penang.

He received his primary education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Cherok Tok Kun and Sekolah Stowell before entering the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar and pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Malay Studies at Universiti Malaya.

Having been active as an Islamist student leader during his university days, Anwar founded the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia or Abim and served as its president until 1982.

At the same time, he was also a member of the Asian Youth Council, World Youth Council and the Asia Pacific Regional Committee of the World Assembly of Youth.

In 1982, Anwar accepted an invitation from the then fourth prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to join Umno and his government.

He was first elected as Permatang Pauh MP in the same year and advanced swiftly with his appointment to the administration as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. Subsequently, he served as the culture, youth and sports minister (1983), agriculture minister (1984) and education minister (1986).

Also in Mahathir’s administration, Anwar was entrusted with a senior minister’s post - finance minister - beginning 1991.

In 1993, he was appointed as the deputy prime minister.

During his service in the government, Anwar also made Malaysia proud when he was named Asia’s Best Finance Minister in 1996.

However, on Sept 2, 1998, Anwar was sacked from the government administration and sentenced to six years of imprisonment in 1999.

Being in jail did not dampen the fighting spirit of Anwar as he began promoting and championing the reformation agenda through his new party - PKR.

Anwar was released from prison in 2004 but he could not return to politics as the law prohibited him from participating in politics for five years from the date of his release.

In 2008, Anwar finally returned to Parliament after winning the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a by-election which was called after his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, vacated the seat to enable him to contest and become an MP.

Anwar successfully defended the seat in GE13 in 2013.

However, in 2014, Anwar was sent back to jail, this time for five years, causing him to be disqualified as the MP for Permatang Pauh yet again.

Following a pact made with Mahathir (who quit Umno in 2016), Harapan won the 14th general election, dubbed the mother of all elections, in 2018, thus ending the six-decade rule of the BN coalition.

Anwar was granted a full pardon by the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V which enabled him to return to politics.

At the PKR National Congress on Nov 18, 2018, Anwar was elected PKR president after Wan Azizah resigned from the post.

In the same month, Anwar contested a by-election for the Port Dickson parliamentary seat and won with a 23,560-vote majority.

The political pact between Anwar and Mahathir, who became the country’s seventh prime minister and led the Harapan government, did not last long due to a power transition issue and the so-called Sheraton Move of some MPs withdrawing support resulted in the collapse of the Harapan government.

Anwar became the Harapan chairperson after Mahathir resigned as the prime minister and Bersatu chairperson, a Harapan component, on Feb 24, 2020, but the former remained as the opposition leader during the tenure of the eighth PM Muhyiddin Yassin and the ninth PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Under Anwar’s leadership, Harapan, which comprises PKR, DAP, Amanah and Upko, as well as ally Muda garnered the highest number of 82 parliamentary seats in GE15 that resulted in a hung Parliament.

- Bernama

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