Mutti Ullah
Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian veteran opposition leader, has been appointed as the country’s new prime minister, after several days of deadlock following the elections.
King Sultan Abdullah made the appointment after elections over the weekend resulted in an unprecedented hung parliament.
Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition claimed the most seats in the polls but could not secure the 112-seat majority in the 222-member parliament required to form a government.
PH won 82 seats while former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malay-based Perikatan Nasional (PN) secured 73 seats, the Election Commission of Malaysia said on Sunday.
Fulfilment of a long-awaited goal
Anwar’s appointment marks the fulfilment of a very long journey to assume the country’s leadership.
The 75-year-old, who leads a multi-ethnic coalition of parties with progressive leanings, was unable to become the premier despite getting making it quite close to the PM’s office several times.
He served as the country’s deputy prime minister in the 1990s and the official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018.
Anwar also stayed behind bars for nearly a decade over sodomy and corruption in what he described as politically motivated charges purported to end his political career.
