KUALA LAMPUR
\nMalaysia\u2019s 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.
\nHis 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.
\nBoth 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.
\nAnwar takes over at a challenging time: the economy is slowing and the country is divided after a tight election that pitted Anwar\u2019s progressive coalition against Muhyiddin\u2019s mostly conservative ethnic-Malay, Muslim alliance.
\nMarkets surged upon the end of the political deadlock. The ringgit currency posted its best day in two weeks and equities rose 3%.
\nThe 75-year-old Anwar has time and again been denied the premiership despite getting within striking distance over the years: he was deputy prime minister in the 1990s and the official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018.
\nIn between, he spent nearly a decade in jail for sodomy and corruption in what he says were politically motivated charges aimed at ending his career.
\nThe uncertainty over the election threatened to prolong political instability in the Southeast Asian country, which has had three prime ministers in as many years, and risks delaying policy decisions needed to foster economic recovery.
\nAnwar\u2019s supporters expressed hope that his government would head off a return to historic tension between the ethnic Malay, Muslim majority and ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
\n\u201cAll we want is moderation for Malaysia and Anwar represents that,\u201d said a communications manager in Kuala Lumpur, who asked to be identified by her surname Tang.
\n\u201cWe can\u2019t have a country that is divided by race and religion as that will set us back another 10 years.\u201d
\nAnwar told Reuters in an interview before the election that he would seek \u201cto emphasize governance and anti-corruption, and rid this country of racism and religious bigotry\u201d if appointed premier.
\nHis coalition, known as Pakatan Harapan, won the most seats in Saturday\u2019s vote with 82, while Muhyiddin\u2019s Perikatan Nasional bloc won 73. They needed 112 \u2013 a simple majority – to form a government.
\nThe long-ruling Barisan bloc won only 30 seats \u2013 the worst electoral performance for a coalition that had dominated politics since independence in 1957.
\nBarisan said on Thursday it would not support a government led by Muhyiddin, though it did not make any reference to Anwar.
\nMuhyiddin, after Anwar\u2019s appointment, asked Anwar to prove his majority in parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KUALA LAMPUR Malaysia\u2019s 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 appointment ends five days of unprecedented post-election crisis, but could usher in a new instability with his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[11548,11541,11547,228],"class_list":{"0":"post-297249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-anwar-ibrahim","9":"tag-leadpakistan","10":"tag-malaysia","11":"tag-prime-minister"},"yoast_head":"\n