Anwar Ibrahim

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 Peoples 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 longtime 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 Malaysias 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 Anwars attempt to become Selangor head of government in the 2014 Kajang Move led to a ninemonth 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 rejoined 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 diPertuan Agong Muhammad V and was released from prison in May 2018 He returned to parliament in the 2018 Port Dickson byelection while his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the PH administration The collapse of the coalition during the 202022 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