Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, took the oath of office to become Malaysia’s new prime minister at the National Palace on Thursday.
Anwar, who heads the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, seen in a live broadcast, wearing traditional Malay clothes, pledged to serve the country and the people well before Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at the National Palace.
The ceremony was attended by Anwar’s political allies.
Anwar, 75, served as deputy prime minister under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad from 1993 to 1998 in the Barisan Nasional government (BN). Following a falling out with Mahathir, Anwar later formed the People’s Justice Party, popularly known by its Malay-acronym PKR and subsequently contested in several national polls.
He had held the portfolios of culture, youth and sports, education, agriculture and finance during his political career in BN.
PKR later formed the PH coalition with several other opposition parties, with the coalition winning the national polls in 2018, ending the long rule of BN which held power from the country’s independence until 2018.
