Anwar Ibrahim has beaten the odds and achieved an ambition he has harbored for decades. He is now Malaysia’s prime minister. After years of opposition politics and even time in prison, Ibrahim is now in a position, however tenuous, to put into place the programs and systemic reforms he has theorized about and campaigned for while in the wilderness. But it’s a difficult task for a man both on the inside and outside of the system—a leader who came up inside the coalition that ruled Malaysia for decades but has also stood outside it for years.
Much needs to be done. The country has a political system that is laden with corrupt roadblocks to progress, including political gridlock in the Parliament and a dysfunctional civil service as well as a legal system where the rule of law is still an ambition rather than a reality. Recent financial scandals have shaken confidence in the institutions of government and the economy.
Najib Razak was once Malaysia’s prime minister. Now, he is in jail. He and his family are accused by the U.S. Justice Department of stealing up to $1 billion from the Malaysian taxpayer and economy at large due to their participation in the 1MDB scandal, which made international headlines and forced global financiers to think twice before investing in Malaysia.
