Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, ending a three-decade political journey that saw him go from being Mahathir Mohamad’s apprentice to leading protests, being imprisoned for sodomy, and leading the opposition.
His appointment puts an end to the historic post-election crisis that lasted five days, but his competitor, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, may challenge him to demonstrate his majority in parliament, which might spark new unrest.
In a Saturday election, neither candidate received a majority of the vote, but King Al-Sultan Abdullah, the country’s constitutional monarch, appointed Anwar after consulting with many parliamentarians.
After a close election that placed Anwar’s progressive coalition against Muhyiddin’s primarily conservative ethnic-Malay, Muslim alliance, the country is split and the economy is stagnating.
Following the resolution of the political impasse, markets soared. Equities increased by 3%, and the ringgit currency had its best day in two weeks.
Anwar, 75, has repeatedly come close to winning the premiership over the years. He served as deputy prime minister in the 1990s and as the official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018.
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