Anwar Ibrahim

Biography

Anwar bin Ibrahim (Jawi: انور بن ابراهيم, IPA: [anwar ɪbrahɪm]; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia since 2022. He served as the 12th and 16th Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2015 and again from 2020 to 2022. He has been the chairman of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition since 2020, the second President of the People's Justice Party (PKR) since 2018 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tambun since November 2022. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and in many other Cabinet positions in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from 1982 to his removal in 1998. A graduate of the University of Malaya, Anwar started his political career as President of student union Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM) and one of the founders and 2nd President of youth organisation Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM). After joining the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the major party in the long-time ruling BN coalition, Anwar held several cabinet positions in successive governments in the 1980s and 1990s. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister during the 1990s and was prominent in Malaysia's response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1998, he was removed from all posts by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and went on to spearhead the Reformasi movement against the government. Anwar was jailed in April 1999 after a trial for sodomy and corruption until his release in 2004 after his conviction was overturned. He made a comeback as Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2015 and coalesced opposition parties into the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, which unsuccessfully contested in the 2008 and 2013 general elections. He disputed the results of the 2013 elections and led a protest in response. In 2014, Anwar's attempt to become Selangor head of government in the 2014 Kajang Move led to a nine-month political crisis, which ended when he was sentenced to another five years imprisonment after a second sodomy conviction in 2015. While still in prison, Anwar re-joined Mahathir Mohamad in the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in absentia, which went on to win the 2018 general election. Mahathir outlined a plan for Anwar to take over from himself as Prime Minister after an unspecified interim period. Anwar received a royal pardon from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Muhammad V and was released from prison in May 2018. He returned to parliament in the 2018 Port Dickson by-election while his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the PH administration. The collapse of the coalition during the 2020–22 Malaysian political crisis led to the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition under Muhyiddin Yassin being sworn in and Anwar becoming Leader of the Opposition for the second time in May 2020. After leading Pakatan Harapan to win a plurality of seats at the 2022 Malaysian general election, Anwar was sworn in as the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 24 November 2022. On 2 December 2022, Anwar appointed various members of Parliament from Pakatan Harapan, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and UMNO to serve as ministers in the cabinet of the newly formed unity government. Anwar named himself as the Finance Minister.