Ending decades-long wait, Anwar becomes Malaysia PM
Stocks gain most in 2 yrs; ringgit up 1.9% vs $, best performer in Asia; gaming and brewery stocks jump as Islamist bloc loses bid
Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey from a protege of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, a prisoner convicted of sodomy and opposition leader. His Alliance of Hope led Saturday's election with 82 seats, short of the 112 needed for a majority.
Anwar vowed to fight corruption and focus on the economy, as well as promising to uphold Islam as the official religion of the multi-ethnic country and also special rights of ethnic Malays.
“Thank God, because we have seen a change that has awaited the people of
Malaysia,” he told reporters at a late-evening address, hours after he was sworn in.
His appointment ends five days of unprecedented post-election crisis, but could usher in a new instability with his rival, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, challenging him to prove his majority in parliament. Both men failed to win a majority in a Saturday election, but the constitutional monarch, King Al-sultan Abdullah, appointed Anwar after speaking to several lawmakers.
Anwar takes over at a challenging time: the economy is slowing and the country is divided after a tight election that pitted Anwar’s progressive coalition against Muhyiddin's mostly conservative ethnicmalay, Muslim alliance.
Malaysian stocks surged the most in
over two years as the new leader was appointed. The ringgit currency posted its best day in two weeks and equities rose 3 per cent. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rallied 4 per cent at the close. Gaming and brewery companies including Genting Malaysia, Sports Toto, Magnum, and Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia rose as the pro-malay, Islamist alliance Perikatan Nasional lost out on its bid to form the government.
Confidence vote on December 19
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he plans to test lawmakers’ support for his leadership with a confidence vote on December 19, as he seeks to prove to a defiant rival that he commands a parliamentary majority.