This Week in Asia Politics
Since becoming prime minister in 2022, Anwar has struggled to win over support from Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority
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The door is fast closing on Malaysia ’s reform experiment after nearly a decade of false starts and political intrigue, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ’s ruling coalition facing the real possibility of being booted out of office as the country’s ethnic majority seeks the return of strong Malay leadership.
PH’s defeat in Negeri Sembilan followed an earlier landslide win by federal partner but electoral rival Umno in the Johor state poll in July.
The common thread between the two state contests in the peninsula was a hard tilt towards Malay dominance in the political structure.
“The demand for a Malay nationalist coalition has never been bigger, especially after having PH and DAP in power,” said Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri, a political-science associate professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia.