Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s strategic allocation of key cabinet seats appears to have bolstered the near-term stability of his new royally-brokered “unity government”, but volatile political fault lines and strong economic headwinds will test his leadership in 2023.
While selecting a cabinet of past political foes was never going to be easy, the 75-year-old premier’s choice of graft-accused United Malays National Organization (UMNO) president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as deputy prime minister has been an especially bitter pill for Malaysians who voted for Anwar’s good governance and anti-corruption agenda.
The November 19 election delivered a hung parliament where Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) bloc won the most seats with 82 but fell well short of a majority. The PH chief was appointed by Malaysia’s constitutional monarch to lead a unity government after Zahid’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition agreed to back Anwar’s bid, prompting key Borneo-based parties to do the same.
While the UMNO president’s top-level appointment has raised eyebrows, it is widely seen as a compromise of political necessity. Zahid, who served as deputy premier from 2015 to 2018 under the scandal-plagued Najib Razak administration, was not appointed to serve in the two governments preceding Anwar’s due to the various corruption-related court cases he faces.
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Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
