Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar bin Ibrahim (, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia since 2022.

His father, Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman, started his career as a hospital porter, later joined politics as the UMNO Member of Parliament for Seberang Perai Central between 1959 and 1969 and also as the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health from 1964 to 1969 until his defeat in the 1969 General Election by a candidate from Gerakan.

His mother, Che Yan binti Hussein, was a housewife active in UMNO grassroots politics in Penang.

He undertook his secondary education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.

From 1968 to 1971, as a student, Anwar was the president of the National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students.

Around the same time, he was also the president of the University of Malaya Malay Language Society (Persatuan Bahasa Melayu Universiti Malaya (PBMUM)).

In 1971, he was a member of the pro tem committee of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) or Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, which he co-founded.

At the same time, he was elected as the 2nd President of the Malaysian Youth Council or Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM).

He was educated at the University of Malaya, where he got a bachelor's degree in Malay Studies, and worked on his Master in Literature through the National University of Malaysia while in prison from 1974 to 1975.

In 1974, Anwar was arrested during student protests against rural poverty and hunger.

This came as a report surfaced stating that a family died from starvation in a village in Baling, in the state of Kedah, which was later demonstrated to be false.

However, the rubber tappers in Baling were experiencing severe hardship as the price of rubber dropped in 1974.

He was imprisoned under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention without trial and spent 20 months in the Kamunting Detention Centre.

From 1975 until 1982, he served as a representative for Asia Pacific of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).

After joining the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the major party in the long-time ruling BN coalition, Anwar held several cabinet positions in successive governments in the 1980s and 1990s.

Anwar Ibrahim is also the co-founder of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) in the USA (founded in 1981).

Anwar has been one of four acting directors, a board member of IIIT and a trustee.

He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and in many other Cabinet positions in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from 1982 to his removal in 1998.

A graduate of the University of Malaya, Anwar started his political career as President of student union Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM) and one of the founders and 2nd President of youth organisation Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM).

He was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister during the 1990s and was prominent in Malaysia's response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In 1998, he was removed from all posts by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and went on to spearhead the Reformasi movement against the government.

Anwar was jailed in April 1999, until his release in 2004 after his conviction was overturned.

He served as the 12th and 16th Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2015 and again from 2020 to 2022.

He made a comeback as Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2015 and coalesced opposition parties into the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, which unsuccessfully contested in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

He disputed the results of the 2013 elections and led a protest in response.

In 2014, Anwar's attempt to become Selangor head of government in the 2014 Kajang Move led to a nine-month political crisis, which ended when he was sentenced to another extensive five years imprisonment after a second sodomy conviction in 2015.

While still in prison, Anwar re-joined Mahathir Mohamad in the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in absentia, which went on to win the 2018 general election.

Mahathir outlined a plan for Anwar to take over from himself as Prime Minister after an unspecified interim period.

Anwar received a royal pardon from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Muhammad V and was released from prison in May 2018.

He returned to parliament in the 2018 Port Dickson by-election while his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the PH administration.

He has been the chairman of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition since 2020, the second President of the People's Justice Party (PKR) since 2018 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tambun since November 2022.

The collapse of the coalition during the 2020–22 Malaysian political crisis led to the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition under Muhyiddin Yassin being sworn in and Anwar becoming Leader of the Opposition for the second time in May 2020.

After leading Pakatan Harapan to win a plurality of seats at the 2022 Malaysian general election, Anwar was sworn in as the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 24 November 2022.

On 2 December 2022, Anwar appointed various members of Parliament from Pakatan Harapan, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and UMNO to serve as ministers in the cabinet of the newly formed unity government.

Anwar named himself as the Finance Minister.

During his tenure, he and his government faced criticism for implementing numerous conservative policies, as well as the discharge not amounting to the acquittal of current Malaysian deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who faced corruption charges.

Moreover, former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak also saw his prison sentence halved and fine reduced during Anwar's tenure, sparking further controversy.

Anwar has long been an advocate for Islamic democracy and reforms to Malaysia's political system.

Outside of politics, Anwar has held positions at various academic institutions.

Anwar bin Ibrahim was born in Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malayan Union.