MORE than a year has already passed since that historic day, on November 24th 2022. The political deadlock that had gripped Malaysia for more than a week was finally settled by the unlikeliest of partnerships between former arch enemies Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) together with the Borneo bloc Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to form what now is called the Madani unity government. Anwar Ibrahim’s lifelong career goal had finally been realised and he is finally in the top job, which had eluded him for decades. This piece will reflect on Anwar’s maiden year in power and also look at what might need to be done in the coming years in order for him to stay on for the next term.

The man himself – PMX

Love him, or hate him, Anwar is a politician of his generation. Arguably the best political orator this country has ever seen, with a charming personality to suit, Anwar is able to sell ice to the Eskimos and sand at the beach. Throughout the one year of his premiership, he has single-handedly managed to achieve the unthinkable, obtaining solid political stability by having two-thirds majority in parliament, the first time this has happened since 2008. Being the astute politician that he is, Anwar is able to easily hold his own and command respect from both the government and opposition bench during his weekly Prime Minister’s Question Time session in the Dewan Rakyat, which was implemented during his administration as a way of keeping the government and prime minister accountable on national issues and policies.

His presence could be also be felt on the international stage, where Anwar had spent a considerable amount of time during this last year. Assisted by Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Anwar has been able to go on a charm offensive, bringing in foreign direct investment worth hundreds of billions, through countries like the United States, Middle East and China. On the humanitarian front as well, Anwar has been constantly championing the Palestinian struggle, as all Malaysian prime ministers should. He has successfully pushed the issue across his tour of the Middle East as well and also during key international summits, like the OIC General Assembly and the Apec Summit in San Francisco.

Though despite all this, Anwar’s aura seems to also be a double-edged sword. His performative leadership is seen by many as the government being a “one-man band” and on many occasions has seem to outshine his cabinet members. A perfect example of this performative leadership and overhyping is when Anwar announced to the nation with much fanfare last year that billionaire Elon Musk had wanted to set up a meeting with him to “berunding” (negotiate). The actual outcome, however, painted a very different picture as he had a 25-minute virtual meeting with Musk, where it was agreed that Tesla would open a sales and service centre in Selangor together with deployment of their Supercharger stations. This is also accompanied by ownership exemptions, which provide  great benefits for the latter. If Anwar is able to reduce credibility-harming instances like this and be a little more selective/cautious with his performative leadership, I believe it could actually be a real force to be reckoned with.

Fresh masterplans and long-term goals

For decades since independence, Malaysia has relied heavily on its oil and gas sector to power economic growth. Since the Najib Razak administration Malaysia has not seen a government which had the opportunity to display clear economic direction and a solid implementation plan to match. There were blueprints like the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV 2030), but this was a rather short-lived policy direction due to the ongoing political circus over the last few years that had bogged the nation, which caused the SPV 2030 to die a slow, painful death.

But now, with political stability in the bag for the next five years, Anwar has committed to putting economic growth as his government’s main priority, together with good governance to show. And he wasted no time putting the gears in motion. The Madani economic narrative was launched first, being the heart of the Anwar administration. The Madani narrative was designed to be the main framework in which the nation’s economic policies would revolve under. It can be broken down into six key fundamental pillars: Sustainability, Prosperity, Innovation, Respect, Trust and Compassion. Fun fact: this is not Anwar’s first foray with the Madani concept, having tabled a “Masyarakat Madani” approach 28 years ago during a budget speech in 1995 as finance minister. This economic narrative has also a clear implementation plan which several structural economic challenges would need to be resolved in the short and medium term with some of the focus areas listed below:
1. Short term (first year): Reducing the high cost of living and eliminating hard-core poverty. (Focus areas: income generation, affordable food, schools and clinics, etc.)
2. Medium-term (the next 10 years): Strengthening the national economy and increasing the quality of life of its citizens. (Focus areas: agriculture – food security, financial market reforms, energy transition and local start-ups and SMEs)

After the Madani economic direction was announced, The National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) followed next. NETR for me is definitely an interesting and exciting prospect, as it clearly lays out a plan to reduce the country’s dependence on carbon-intensive fuels through flagship projects across six key sectors: energy efficiency, renewable energy, hydrogen, bioenergy, green mobility and carbon capture. Backed with a RM2 billion seed fund war chest, Phase 1 of the NETR has set out approximately 10 near-term flagship initiatives that will put focus on transitioning from a fossil fuel-intensive nation to a low-carbon one. Apart from NETR, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030) announcement followed soon after, where it was officially launched by the Malaysian government to chart the strategic direction of the country’s manufacturing sector for the next seven years. The NIMP 2030 lays out a broad policy framework that will serve as a policy guide for Malaysia’s industrial development.

With full support across coalition partners and with a 150-plus parliamentary majority, the Madani government can put its full attention and focus on what matters most – running the country and growing its economy. Key policies frameworks like the ones mentioned above can finally take off and be placed centre stage, without any unnecessary political disturbances taking the limelight.

Autopilot cabinet

As the famous saying goes, you are only as good as your team. This not only holds true for companies and organisations but for governments as well. Over the past year, one of the major criticisms of the Anwar unity government is that it looks like it has run out of steam, has no long-term vision and is seen as being on autopilot mode more often than not. Although this goes without saying that there are a number of standout achievers in this cabinet, namely Environment Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Trade and Industry Ministry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and the former domestic trade and living costs minister the late Salahuddin Ayub. The rest of them unfortunately have honestly not caught my imagination as of yet, as they seem rather lacklustre compared to their predecessors in the same ministries. There is also the big elephant in the room, which is Anwar’s dual performance as both finance minister and prime minister. The last time this was practised was during the tenure of Najib, where the then opposition, including Anwar, lambasted the move left, right and centre. Alas, today since it is Anwar who is now at the helm, holding the two biggest portfolios in the country has become kosher and has ironically even been lauded by the same people as well. I believe this is where the prime minister should show accountability, practise what he preached back then and come to realise that this great nation requires a full-time prime minister who is not burdened by other responsibilities.

After months of speculation about a potential cabinet reshuffle amid great criticism over economic handling, fiscal constraints and a non-performing ringgit, towards the end of 2023, the prime minister had finally done it. He eshuffled his pack of cards and brought in seasoned, experienced names like Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Johari Ghani and Gobind Singh Deo. Anwar also heeded the advice of many and appointed a second finance minister, Amir Hamzah (ex-EPF CEO) as his second-in-command to get the heavy-lifting done in the nation’s treasury. This new line-up (albeit at a small cost of having a slightly bloated cabinet than before) has definitely been a breath of fresh air to the Madani administration and they should now be able to hit the ground running, given most of them have been in government before and would not require an extensive adapting period. I do not see why the practice of a reshuffle should stop here and not continue? When an employee of a company is appraised after every year for a performance review, I do not see why we shouldn’t treat ministers the same. And this cabinet reshuffle is probably that kick in the rear that this administration needs to get over the honeymoon period and finally start delivering.

Reforms and ‘harapan’

From his sacking in 1998, the magic mantra that Anwar has always been selling Malaysians is the promise of “Reformasi”. Ask any non-partisan Malaysian before GE15, what will an Anwar Ibrahim administration potentially look like? Many will say it will be a government which is bold, not afraid of making tough decisions, and of course reform-minded, where Malaysia will finally correct the wrongs of past administrations and ensure sweeping structural changes that will propel the nation into a shining new era.

After a year in power, this dream has been nothing short of disappointing as Anwar and his administration has now seemed to become the bogey man they were fighting against all these years ago. From the early days of his cabinet being announced, the cracks in Anwar’s reform image has been spreading bit by bit. Some of his administration’s “major highlights” reel includes the following gaffes:
1. The prime minister handling two significant portfolios in government.
2. Asset declarations by Anwar’s cabinet are totally non-existent, despite it being done under the PH1.0 government (under Dr Mahathir Mohamed), PN (under Muhyiddin Yassin) and also the BN government (under Ismail Sabri Yaakob), who even went a step further to even announce asset declarations for government-linked company (GLC) heads and judges.
3. Politicians in government are still being rewarded handsomely with GLC positions.
4. Failure to provide constituency development funds to opposition MPs, despite calling out for it numerous times back when they were in opposition. It is also listed in PH’s “Buku Harapan” manifesto for GE15.
5. Refusal to repeal/amend historically repressive laws (like the Sedition Act 1948 and Universities and University Colleges Act 1971). The sedition act, sadly, is still used today, to subjugate political opponents.
6. Ensuring the appointment of the MACC chief is placed under parliament. (Another fun fact: the contract of current MACC chief Azam Baki was extended by this administration, barely 24 months after PH rallied in the streets demanding for him to resign.)
7. The enigma of having appointed a deputy prime minister with 47 corruption charges and then having the audacity to clear him of those charges, despite a prima facie case already being established by the prosecution.

And this list can honestly go on and on. It’s becoming evidently clear that Anwar’s reform image has so far only paid lip service to Malaysians, where in actuality, his predecessors seem to be ahead of the curve compared to him. Anwar has said on national television that theprocess of reforms cannot be hastily done and he would not repeat the mistakes of the past (by the PH1.0 government) in rushing them. This to me is honestly a lame excuse as some of what I have listed above is merely scratching the surface and considered to be the low-hanging fruit if this administration truly intends to be a reform-minded one. We have not even begun speaking about tougher reform actions that needs to be addressed (i.e. reintroduction of GST, ballooning national debt levels and ending monopolies, to name a few) and deal with the structural issues affecting our economy. If Anwar truly wants to live up to his name as a reformist prime minister as many expected of him back in 1998, he really needs to get cracking of them from this year onwards.

Conclusion

Of course, there’ll be many who will say it is still very premature to judge Anwar and his Madani government after only a year in power. I agree totally, as Anwar and his administration still have the luxury of a full term on their hands to put things right. Although they do have at least four more years to go before GE16 is called, the clock is indeed ticking as by years three and four, Anwar and his unity government will probably have to start preparing the groundwork for elections in a number of crucial states, namely Sabah, Malacca, Johor and Sarawak. This, I feel will put the government leaders back in “politicking” mode and may result in them taking their eye off the ball in running the country (case in point would be last year’s state elections). Time is really of the essence and if Anwar really wants a second term at the helm, there is a whole lot of work to be done.

Review of first-year performance: C. – January 10, 2024.

* Sheikh Shamir reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.