New Malay PM Ibrahim faces conservative challenge, confidence motion

Malaysia’s long-time opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who often quotes from Gandhi and the Koran, has finally become the Prime Minister (PM) of the country after three failed attempts in his chequered political career. He rose to the coveted post after an election that resulted in the country’s first hung parliament.

The 75-year-old has pledged to fight corruption and support multi-racial Malaysia under his progressive and transparent leadership. But Ibrahim will have to give top priority to restoring political stability and putting the economy on a faster growth track. He will also have to contend with a more religiously conservative bloc of the electorate, which sees him as too liberal.

Ibrahim has pledged to continue to uphold constitutional guarantees regarding the Malay language, Islam, and the special rights of the “sons of the soil,” referring to the Malays and the indigenous people.

Malaysia has had three PMs in the past three years and now desperately needs a leader who can provide political stability in a sharply divided country with a slowing economy and rising ethnic tension.

“There will be no question of instability in my administration” he has said. But his claim will be put to test on December 19, when his government tables a motion of confidence in parliament. Ibrahim will have to prove that he has the support of at least 112 lawmakers — the number required for a simple majority in parliament. It may not be easy.

Ibrahim’s Hope Pact coalition won 82 seats, making it the largest bloc in parliament. But it fell short of the minimum 112 seats that would give it the simple majority required to form a government. His close rival for the top job was former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Chairman of the National Alliance, which secured 73 seats.

Both Ibrahim and Yassin had claimed they could get the numbers with support from friendly parties.

The National Alliance had managed to get the support of Borneo parties that won a combined 28 seats.

The King, Al-Sultan Abdulla, who took the initiative to find a solution, concluded that neither party had a majority and asked both Muhyiddin and Anwar to work together. But Muhyiddin refused.

The breakthrough for Anwar came when the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the National Front coalition and has 30 seats, agreed to support a unity coalition government led by Anwar.

After speaking to several lawmakers, Abdulla appointed Ibrahim the Prime Minister and asked him to form the government.

However, it is not clear if all the smaller parties who pledged support to Ibrahim will finally back him on the crucial day of the trust vote. A statement from the palace said, “His Majesty advised the Prime Minister and the new government to take immediate charge to provide the people with a stable government to enhance the economic landscape and national development.”

Ibrahim’s appointment caps a three-decade old political journey that took him from being a protégé of veteran leader Mahatir Mohamad to a protest leader, to a prisoner convicted of sodomy (a charge many believed to be politically motivated), to an opposition leader.

Ibrahim said: “My grandson asked me how long I had to wait to be Prime Minister… I told him not too long, only 24 years.”

He will face several challenges, ranging from a slowing economy to calming a country polarised after the closely-fought election in which Anwar’s progressive coalition was pitted against Yassin’s conservative-ethnic Malay, Muslim alliance. One of the immediate issues for him will be the budget for the next year, which was tabled before the election but not passed.

There will be a lot of ‘give-and-take’ in the coming days as Anwar tries to negotiate alliances with lawmakers from other blocs and ensure his majority in parliament.

India-Malaysia relations

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Anwar and said in a Tweet that he looked forward to working closely together to further strengthen the India-Malaysia Enhanced Strategic Partnership. India and Malaysia signed the partnership in 2015 during a visit by Modi to Malaysia.

Malaysia is part of India’s “Act East Policy.” It is strategically located along the Strait of Malacca, a major sea-route connecting the Far East to Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Malaysia is also a key member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a major producer of rubber and palm oil.
Under the strategic partnership the two countries have held regular high-level conferences and the Prime Ministers have met frequently on the sidelines of multilateral summits. They have engaged with each other on a wide range of areas like trade and economics, health and education, ITC IT, culture, and security and defence.

Now, palm oil has also become a key element of this bilateral relationship. India used to import most of its palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia. But after Jakarta banned the export of palm oil, India has significantly enhanced its purchase from Malaysia. Importing over three million tonnes, India is the largest buyer of Malaysian palm oil.

However, in the past India has also stopped imports from Malaysia after its leader Mahatir Mohamad, in his 2019 address to the UN General Assembly, said India has “invaded and occupied” Kashmir. Some Malay Muslim youth groups had also made critical remarks about the Indian government after the Delhi riots of 2020.

But subsequently, the Malaysian leadership has assured India that in the future Malaysia would keep India’s sensitivities in mind and refrain from making any remarks that could adversely affect bilateral relations.

Hopefully, the new government will follow that policy.