From being in a temple to being imprisoned, and now making a comeback, the 75-year-old Anwar has finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish to become Malaysia's prime minister.
On the afternoon of November 24, Malaysia's National Palace issued a statement saying that the head of state appointed Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Anwar as Malaysia's 10th prime minister.
On the 20th, Anwar (former) attended a press conference.
The results of the "dogfight" came outThe Malaysian general election was held on November 19, with 945 people vying for 222 seats, the most contested in any election, and the vast majority of constituencies were contested with multiple fights.
On November 20, the Malaysian Election Commission announced the preliminary election results, and none of the political parties and coalitions participating in this election won a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament, marking the first time in Malaysia's history that there is a "hanging parliament" without a majority of the parliament.
In the past few days, the head of state summoned Anwar, National Alliance leader Muhiddin and others, and finally decided to appoint Anwar as Malaysia's new prime minister.
Anwar and his wife attended the press conference.
The "would-be prime minister" has finally turned positiveAfter years of ups and downs in the political vortex, Anwar has always passed the prime minister.
In the 90s, Anwar became Malaysia's deputy prime minister and was once regarded as the successor of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. However, due to the Asian financial turmoil, Malaysia's economy is deteriorating, and Anwar, who is also the finance minister, has not only disagreed with Mahathir on economic policy, but also received public criticism for the recession. Soon, Anwar was dismissed from public office, party membership, and twice jailed for dereliction of duty.
Anwar was unable to run in prison when Malaysia held a general election in May 2018, but chose to put aside his past and join forces with Mahathir to defeat the long-ruling National Front, and once again approached the prime ministership, when Mahathir, after being elected prime minister, asked the head of state to pardon Anwar, while promising to hand him the baton later. But because Mahathir always avoided answering when the baton would be exchanged, there was another undercurrent between the two.
It wasn't until February 2020 that Mahathir abruptly announced his resignation, and Pakatan Harapan's nomination gave Anwar hope of becoming prime minister for the third time. Surprisingly, however, the position ended up in Muhiddin when the sandpiper mussels competed.
The picture shows Mahathir waving goodbye to supporters after the vote.
And this time, Anwar, the "quasi-prime minister" who is always almost hot, finally "turned positive" as he wished. In the face of turbulent politics, what will he do next?
In a special speech during the election, Anwar stressed that the election is not a matter of changing the prime minister, but the best opportunity to save and revive the country.
Anwar promised that PH will be a stable government and boost the country's economy from the shadow of the pandemic by implementing various policies, including supporting small and medium-sized enterprises as the backbone of the economy, creating more jobs and improving the quality of education.
At the same time, he reiterated his hope that Pakatan Harapan would have the opportunity to reform the national system, eradicate corruption, eliminate race and other issues. He also said he would fight corruption, promising that entrenched corruption, racism and religious prejudice would disappear. In a show of transparency, Anwar and several PH candidates also declared their assets.
However, judging from the election situation, it will not be easy for Anwar to fulfill his campaign promises.
On the one hand, it is unlikely that Malaysian politics will inevitably move towards a "fragmented pattern" in the next few years, and the new government is likely to spend more energy negotiating the formation of a cabinet.
Some analysts pointed out that Malaysia's general election implemented the automatic registration voting system for the age of 18 and above for the first time, and the political expression of millions of young "first-time voters" was partially presented as a denial of the old political culture. The defeat of UMNO and BN, and the loss of parliamentary seats at the age of 97, etc., symbolize the reshuffle of the political landscape and the continuation of the political changes since the 2018 general election.
On the other hand, the economic issues and rising prices, which voters are particularly concerned about, will also be a major challenge during Anwar's administration.
Some analysts say that if the new coalition government is unstable, it may interrupt the coherence of economic policies, thereby affecting investor confidence. Coupled with weak global growth, escalating geopolitical tensions, and worsening supply chain disruptions, the Malaysian economy remains facing downside risks.
(Chinanews.com)