https://www.scmp.com/rss/327192/feed Professor Wong Chin Huat is a political scientist at Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development (JSC), Sunway University, Malaysia. He specialises in political institutions and group conflicts. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Just before Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim completed his first 100 days in power on Saturday, the Islamist opposition PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang took aim at the country’s coalition government. He made a bold claim that the government would soon collapse, and not last the full term until December 2027, without providing details. Such is the shadow cast over Anwar’s coalition and Malaysian politics. Once having the same prime minister – Mahathir Mohamad – for 22 years, Malaysia... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3212266/anwar-ibrahims-first-100-days-identity-politics-casts-shadow-over-new-malaysia-pm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3212266/anwar-ibrahims-first-100-days-identity-politics-casts-shadow-over-new-malaysia-pm?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Mar 2023 02:00:22 +0000 Twenty-four years after his fall from deputy prime minister to prisoner, Anwar Ibrahim of the multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance has been sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister. He is the country’s fourth prime minister since May 2018, and his predecessors’ terms have been decreasing: 22 months to 18 months to 15 months. So, can Anwar last a full five years until December 2027? The fundamental challenge lies not in the multiple crises hitting Malaysia, but the peculiarity of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3201797/heres-how-anwar-ibrahim-can-avoid-toxic-opposition-and-turn-malaysia-around?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3201797/heres-how-anwar-ibrahim-can-avoid-toxic-opposition-and-turn-malaysia-around?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Dec 2022 05:25:24 +0000 The Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has risen to become the largest party with 44 seats in the country’s 222-seat hung parliament after a vigorous electoral campaign that ended on Saturday. PAS is now the largest component party of the predominantly Malay-Muslim Perikatan Nasional (PN), which clinched 73 seats, the second-highest after the 82 seats won by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition (PH). If PN succeeds in forming the next federal government, PAS would... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3200299/malaysia-election-2022-islamists-rise-next-leader-must-govern-all-not-just-majority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3200299/malaysia-election-2022-islamists-rise-next-leader-must-govern-all-not-just-majority?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Nov 2022 08:50:29 +0000 Malaysia is set to go to the polls in the coming weeks, despite facing the risk of widespread floods during the monsoon season. The government’s justification? The country needs to restore political stability. In Malaysia, political stability is traditionally perceived as synonymous to dominance. Until 2008, leaders had always governed with a two-thirds majority. It has thus been unsettling for many voters that no single political bloc has commanded even a simple majority in parliament since... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3195975/how-hung-parliament-could-help-stabilise-malaysian-politics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3195975/how-hung-parliament-could-help-stabilise-malaysian-politics?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Oct 2022 01:00:19 +0000 Exactly 23 years ago in 1998, Malaysian politics entered a new age when Anwar Ibrahim, who was then deputy prime minister, was sacked by Mahathir Mohamad and subsequently imprisoned. Anwar, charismatic and with Islamic and intellectual credibility, transformed Malay politics in two ways. First, his persecution propelled a wave of anger and defiance among younger and less privileged Malays against the dominant United Malays National Organisation (Umno). Second, he established the multi-ethnic... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3147280/does-malaysias-opposition-need-new-leader-or-new-direction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3147280/does-malaysias-opposition-need-new-leader-or-new-direction?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Sep 2021 07:00:13 +0000 With near lightning speed, Malaysia’s game of thrones is settled for now, just days after the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. His deputy Ismail Sabri Yaakob has won the support of 114 of the coalition government’s 115 MPs, constituting a 51.8 per cent bare majority in the 220-member parliament, and he is expected to be sworn in this weekend. However, can Malaysia’s third prime minister since May 2018 end political instability and turn around the government’s failed struggle on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3145656/can-malaysias-new-prime-minister-end-political-instability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3145656/can-malaysias-new-prime-minister-end-political-instability?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Aug 2021 11:30:09 +0000 When Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin went on Friday to seek an audience with Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the nation’s king, he was expected to announce the proclamation of a state of emergency in the name of fighting Covid-19. His cabinet had made the decision that morning in a special meeting attended by security chiefs, but at the National Security Council meeting with the king, Muhyiddin failed to obtain royal consent. Malaysia’s Anwar cries foul as PM said to eye bid for... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3106919/why-malaysia-needs-confidence-and-supply-government-not-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3106919/why-malaysia-needs-confidence-and-supply-government-not-state?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Oct 2020 06:00:24 +0000 China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong is failing miserably. After more than six months of large-scale pro-democracy protests – including violent clashes with police – the city’s voters dealt a powerful blow in November to pro-mainland parties, which lost 87% of seats to pro-democracy rivals in district council elections.  The significance of that election should not be underestimated. While district councils have little power, they select some of the 1,200 electors who choose... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-faces-civilizational-challenge-hong-kong-and-taiwan/article/3043204?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-faces-civilizational-challenge-hong-kong-and-taiwan/article/3043204?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2019 10:32:15 +0000 China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong is failing miserably. After more than six months of large-scale pro-democracy protests – including violent clashes with police – the city’s voters dealt a powerful blow in November to pro-mainland parties, which lost 87 per cent of seats to pro-democracy rivals in district council elections.  The significance of that election should not be underestimated. While district councils have little power, they select some of the 1,200 electors who... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3042967/win-over-hong-kong-and-taiwan-xis-china-must-break-2000-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3042967/win-over-hong-kong-and-taiwan-xis-china-must-break-2000-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Dec 2019 22:30:05 +0000 On May 9, Malaysia’s political canvas was redrawn with a single election. By returning 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad to the job of prime minister, voters ended 61 years of uninterrupted rule by the United Malays National Organisation (Umno). Within days, the ousted incumbent, Najib Razak, was under investigation for corruption, and the long-jailed opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, was back in politics. Astonishingly, no blood was spilled in this “silent revolution”. While that might seem like a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2147576/malaysias-mahathir-must-embrace-political-reform-empower?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2147576/malaysias-mahathir-must-embrace-political-reform-empower?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 May 2018 08:20:53 +0000