Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image Malaysia’s parliament held its first session of the year on February 26. In his opening speech, the new king, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, demanded that members of parliament refrain from political plotting and instead focus on legislation....
Credit: AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File The heir of a glorified line of politicians, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak (2009-2018) embodied the promise of a new era of liberalism in both the economic and social realms. However, history has yet to determine...
Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image With the year 2024 underway and the upcoming lunar new year, Malaysian politics continues its drive on an even tone. Rumors of a possible government overthrow spread among the public in early January, dubbed “the Dubai Move” after the...
Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image On December 12, just over a year into his government, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reshuffled his cabinet, switching portfolios, creating new positions and ministries, and bringing in familiar faces from the 2018 Pakatan Harapan (PH)...
Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image The first year of Anwar Ibrahim’s government has been a shaky one, pressured by elections in six states and a ferocious pro-Malay opposition. The Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance is a mismatch, and its movements are...
In this episode of Globe Unpacked, we discuss Donald Trump's many court cases; Liberia's imminent run-off election between President George Weah and challenger Joseph Boakai; and Malaysia expert Sophie Lemière tells us about the Southeast Asian nation's unique...
Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image The Malaysian government’s Budget 2024 was adopted this month. At a size of 393.8 billion ringgit (or approximately $83.3 billion), the budget is the largest to be tabled in the country’s history. This includes a record high RM303.8...
Photo: Lisa Marie David - Pool/ Getty Images In November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim, leader of the democratic movement Reformasi, finally became prime minister of Malaysia. At 75, Anwar spent 8 years of a 20-year struggle in prison for “sexual offenses”—accusations he...
Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image Malaysia’s state elections, held in six states on August 12, followed an uneventful campaign and led to little change to the status quo. The three northern states of Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu were retained by the opposition...
Photo: Rohd Rasfan/ Getty Image With six state assemblies dissolved in advance of elections to be held within the next couple of months, the ruling and opposition coalitions are in order of battle. The Negeri Sembilan assembly was dissolved on July 1, the Kedah,...