New Malaysia PM secures royal pardon for opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim and vows to hand over power

Source: Independent

The 92-year-old comeback kid of Malaysian politics, Mahathir Mohamad, had been in power for less than 24 hours when he made an announcement that effectively heralded his own downfall. On Friday, Mr Mahathir said he had successfully secured a royal pardon for the opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, a man who had joined him in coalition from the confines of a prison cell.

It marked the latest extraordinary twist in a heady few days for politics in the southeast Asian nation. Mr Mahathir, the former authoritarian leader who stepped down after 22 years in power in 2003, has vowed to hand over the reins once again if Mr Anwar is released from jail. Malaysia PM admits historic election defeat as ‘verdict of the people’
Mr Anwar, a former protegee of Mr Mahathir until the pair fell out in 1998, retains huge popularity among a generation of Malaysians who see him as the wrongly imprisoned reform candidate of the turn of the millennium.

The victorious opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan, which collectively won 122 seats of the 222-member parliament in this week’s general election, only backed Mr Mahathir as leader on the condition that he eventually make way for Mr Anwar, and that he take Mr Anwar’s wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as his deputy. She is now the first female deputy premier in Malaysia’s history.

Mr Anwar, a former protegee of Mr Mahathir until the pair fell out in 1998, retains huge popularity among a generation of Malaysians who see him as the wrongly imprisoned reform candidate of the turn of the millennium.
The victorious opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan, which collectively won 122 seats of the 222-member parliament in this week’s general election, only backed Mr Mahathir as leader on the condition that he eventually make way for Mr Anwar, and that he take Mr Anwar’s wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as his deputy. She is now the first female deputy premier in Malaysia’s history.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/malaysia-election-latest-mahathir-mohamad-anwar-ibrahim-royal-pardon-a8346741.html