Who is Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian PM?

“I used to be in jail however you nearly acquired there,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joked to US President Donald Trump because the cameras rolled.

It was a dicey joke – one he shortly moved on from given Trump’s less-than amused manner – but additionally arguably one solely a veteran politician basking in his latest wins would dare make.

He had simply signed a cope with Trump to decrease tariffs on Malaysian exports to the US from 24% to 19%. Though many different particulars stay unclear, any assurance that levies won’t rise additional is welcome amid all of the uncertainty.

However most vital of all, Anwar had secured Trump’s attendance at a regional summit whose relevance has been repeatedly questioned. The US president was on the assembly of Affiliation of South East Asian Nations, or Asean, in Kuala Lumpur solely to preside over a extremely publicised “peace deal” between Thailand and Cambodia, which Anwar orchestrated.

He additionally brokered the delicate ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia after lethal border clashes earlier this yr – he stepped in after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on either side if the preventing did not cease.

Some known as it a diplomatic victory for Malaysia, whereas others stated Anwar was merely in the correct place on the proper time – this yr, it was the Malaysian PM’s flip to steer Asean.

However Anwar would argue he waited 25 years for his flip – a turbulent time within the wings, throughout which he was jailed twice.

Anwar first made his identify as a charismatic firebrand scholar chief who based Malaysia’s Islamic youth motion, ABIM.

In 1982, he joined the long-ruling occasion United Malays Nationwide Organisation (UMNO), shocking many who had anticipated him to keep away from the institution.

Nevertheless it proved a canny political transfer – he climbed up the ladder quickly and held a number of ministerial posts.

In 1993, he grew to become deputy to then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and was extensively seen as his heir-apparent. That was till they fell out over the dealing with of the Asian monetary disaster in 1997, which hit Malaysia onerous.

Anwar was sacked the following yr, then jailed for sodomy and corruption – expenses he denies to at the present time, arguing they have been a part of a smear marketing campaign to take away him as a political risk.

In 2004, a yr after Mahathir stepped down, Malaysia’s Supreme Court docket overturned the sodomy conviction and freed Anwar. He emerged because the chief of an invigorated opposition, main it to its strongest-ever efficiency within the 2013 elections.

Lower than a yr later, whereas making ready to battle a state election, new sodomy expenses have been filed towards him, sending him back to jail.

Then in 2016, in a shock flip of occasions, Mahathir got here out of retirement to run for high workplace, as then-leader Najib Razak confronted corruption allegations.

Mahathir, then 92, struck an unlikely cope with the still-imprisoned Anwar, the place he promised to free Anwar if elected, and finally hand over the PM job to him. Their coalition scored a historic victory in 2018, however the alliance started to unravel because the nonagenarian stored shifting the goalposts for handing over energy.

Within the 2022 election, Anwar’s coalition won the most seats however nonetheless fell in need of the quantity wanted to kind a authorities.

After days of impasse, the king appointed him PM.

Some thought his time period can be short-lived. However almost three years on, the 78-year-old has already held on to the job for longer than his three predecessors.

Anwar’s largest achievement is maybe the political stability he seems to have dropped at a rustic that has cycled by way of three prime ministers between 2020 and 2021.

“Malaysia today is typically seen as among the many most secure in South East Asia… which has additionally made it comparatively enticing for traders,” says Syaza Shukri, a political science professor on the Worldwide Islamic College Malaysia.

However price of residing is rising, as it’s in so many different international locations. In July, 20,000 protesters took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur demanding Anwar’s resignation, over rising prices and an absence of financial reforms.

And costly investments in semiconductor manufacturing and information centres are but to repay. That is why the tariff cope with the US was essential for the export-driven economic system.

Others accuse his administration of not doing sufficient to advertise a extra inclusive Malaysia within the face of rising Islamism. Spiritual outrage has generally spilled into violence within the Muslim-majoirty nation, which additionally has a sizeable ethnic Chinese language inhabitants.

In 2024, a comfort retailer chain sparked an outcry for promoting socks printed with the phrase “Allah” – the Arabic phrase for God – which many Muslims noticed as an insult to Islam. The shop was attacked with Molotov cocktail assaults as individuals known as for it to be boycotted and for the corporate’s executives to be charged.

In 2023, a Chinese language Muslim restaurant needed to publicly apologise after it got here below hearth over a workers member sporting a crucifix necklace.

“The center floor for Malaysian politics is not a tolerant multiracial Malaysia, however a conservative Malaysia with an Islamic outlook… Anwar’s place on political Islam could transfer the nation to unchartered territory,” professor of Asian research James Chin wrote in a commentary printed by CNA.

Critics additionally accuse Anwar of favouritism and query his anti-corruption pledges – in a contentious transfer, public prosecutors dropped 47 corruption expenses in 2023 towards a key Anwar ally, the deputy PM.

Internationally, Anwar has been extra profitable.

As prime minister, he has a deft balancing act forward to ensure the rising, economic system he’s in control of does not get caught between the US and China.

He had additionally invited China’s chief Xi Jinping to the summit. Xi had made an official go to to Malaysia in April, after a 12-year hole, however he skipped this week’s summit.

However Trump’s presence was no small factor for South East Asian economies that depend on the US market. It meant different international locations, like Thailand and Vietnam, might additionally talk about particulars and acquire assurances on tariffs – which they’d depend as a win, for now.

Anwar has been very energetic on the diplomatic entrance. Inside his first yr as PM, he visited all Asean international locations, aside from Myanmar, the place a civil battle has been raging because the military seized energy in 2021.

It has been one in all Asean’s most intractable challenges – whereas Anwar has been praised for talking up extra on the problem, little has modified on the bottom, partly as a result of China has essentially the most affect over the army junta.

Nonetheless, Professor Chin believes Anwar has “moved the needle a bit” in restoring Asean’s relevance.

His position within the Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire additionally boosted Anwar’s standing, however these diplomatic wins imply little to odd Malaysians.

What’s resonated at house is his advocacy for the Palestinian trigger, which has develop into louder because the battle in Gaza started in 2023.

“Anwar must fly the Palestinian flag to the hilt to fulfill public opinion and fortify himself towards assaults from opponents who accuse him of not going far sufficient,” says Ariel Tan, coordinator of the Malaysia programme on the S Rajaratnam Faculty of Worldwide Research.

However Anwar additionally faces a dilemma as a result of he wants to keep up good ties with Washington, Israel’s strongest ally, Ms Tan says.

“Since Trump’s re-election, he has diminished his criticism of the US’ position within the battle. Participating the US has develop into extra crucial, significantly with the tariff risk.”

The query is, will Anwar be capable to steadiness the calls for at house with these overseas, and begin to replicate his worldwide success on an area stage?

The reply to that will probably be essential to his survival within the subsequent election, due in 2028.