The Malaysian dilemma: can Mahathir and Anwar get Pakatan Harapan back on track?

The prime minister and the leader-in-waiting have seen much goodwill from last year’s stunning election win evaporate over succession squabbles and a lack of concrete reforms – and the opposition is gaining ground

Despite reassurances from the party leadership, some fear a return to the old rivalries between Mahatir and Anwar

Reading Time:7 minutes

Posters of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim at a 2018 rally in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:30am, 24 Nov 2019Updated: 1:45pm, 18 Dec 2019

Since his return to politics last year, Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim has made it a habit to post pictures on social media of his meetings with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a former arch-enemy whom he now hopes to succeed.

For the most part, commentators see the gestures as a way for the 70-year-old politician to show his supporters all is well – and that the pact between the duo for Anwar to become the country’s next leader will go ahead as planned.

But after an outbreak of finger-pointing within Pakatan Harapan following its spectacular by-election defeat in the federal seat of Tanjung Piai on November 16, the photo Anwar posted on Thursday of the coalition’s two leaders smiling during a 30-minute tete-a-tete was particularly striking.

It was a clear message to the country: there is no need to worry, at least for now, about a repeat of their 1990s duel that eventually saw Anwar abruptly cut as deputy prime minister, jailed for sodomy and corruption, and banished to the sidelines of power for a decade.

Still, some political commentators and even Pakatan Harapan insiders say they are having premonitions of such a rematch as the bloc comes under severe strain.

Tanjung Piai was Pakatan Harapan’s fourth defeat in the nine by-elections held since it stunned the world by defeating the long-ruling Barisan Nasional alliance in last May’s polls. Along with that tepid electoral record, Mahathir’s government has seen falling approval ratings amid an upswing in racial tensions, rising costs of living, and slower-than-expected reforms.