Longtime Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim is the country’s new prime minister after the Southeast Asian nation’s palace announced Thursday an end to a protracted election deadlock.
Following a meeting with state rulers, the king appointed Anwar as the Southeast Asian nation’s tenth prime minister, according to the Malaysian constitution. Anwar will be sworn in at 5pm local time, the king said in an official announcement.
“Whether you win or lose the election, I ask you to stand together for our beloved country,” he said, translated by CNBC.
“As the country needs a strong and stable government, it is important that our country is free from policy instability.”
He asked the elected members of parliament to continue to serve the nation well and thanked the state rulers for their help and insight to resolve the crisis.
Anwar’s appointment marks a more than 20-year wait for the former deputy prime minister, who spent two decades as opposition leader amid prison terms and political intrigue.
Listed stocks in Malaysia were in the green ahead of the announcement, but the KLCI index rose 3% shortly after. Telecommunications group Axiata Group Bhd was among the top gainers as rubber glove maker Top Glove rose 6%. Genting Malaysia rose 5.16% and CIMB rose 3.45%.
The Malaysian ringgit rose more than one percent to 4.5070 against the greenback.
Malaysia’s general election on Saturday produced the country’s first hung parliament, prompting the king to present their alliances by 2pm local time on Tuesday to form a government and appoint their preferred prime minister.
Parties and coalitions needed 112 of the 222 seats in parliament to form a government – but no coalition was able to do so.
Malaysia has been in political turmoil since Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition – the country’s largest – won the 2018 election that ended Malaysia’s 60-year rule. National Front.
Malaysia was plunged into political turmoil after former prime minister and Barisan Nasional chairman Najib Razak was implicated in the multi-billion dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
But Mukaiddin Yassin, Anwar’s rival in the leadership race, and other members of Pakatan Harapan formed Perikatan Nasional in 2020.
This defection led to the fall of the Pakatan government.
The Southeast Asian country has had three prime ministers, including Muhyiddin.
Pakatan won a maximum of 82 parliamentary seats in Saturday’s election, but fell short of 112.
The current ruling coalition, Perigadon National, is in second place with 73 seats. After he and other members of Pakatan Harapan defected to form Perikatan Nasional in 2020, party leader Mukhaiddin Yassin has been one of the prime ministers in recent years.
This defection led to the fall of the Pakatan government.
Anwar, a deputy to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the 1990s, was jailed for corruption and sodomy.
— CNBC’s Jihye Lee contributed to this report.
