What’s at stake for Malaysia in Anwar Ibrahim’s confidence vote, and can he survive test?
- Anwar’s decision to hold the vote could see his administration halted in its tracks prematurely, with MPs allowed to vote with their conscience
- Next year’s budget is at stake as a global recession looms, while PM must also work to heal the country’s racial divide, address rising cost of living
Monday’s vote is a political high-wire act, experts say, which challenges lawmakers to decisively back his administration and reset Malaysia’s fractious politics just as dark economic clouds gather.
“There is a possibility the vote will not go his way,” said Aira Azhari, senior manager for research at the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) in Malaysia.
Expectations are that the vote will be a mere formality, as the leaders of five major coalitions and parties backing Anwar on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to support his administration.
The new prime minister is said to have the backing of 148 out of 222 MPs with the pact. MPs from parties that signed the agreement who subsequently decide not to back Anwar will be obliged to resign their positions.
Failure on Monday, however, could sink his administration before it gets started, puncturing Anwar’s decades-long ambition to hold the top office.
“However, he is setting a good precedent by agreeing to a confidence vote,” Aira added. “It is parliament’s role to lend legitimacy to the prime minister’s support, and it is time that parliament plays that role.”