Malaysia's Anwar Faces Early Election Threat Amid Coalition Unraveling

Chances of Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim winning a fresh mandate look increasingly fraught, according to experts, as the unravelling of his coalition government gathered pace over the weekend amid threats of all-out war between allies and the defection of former stalwarts to a rival party.

Anwar has presided over a period of relative political stability since his appointment as prime minister in November 2022 by then king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, on condition that he included both allies and rivals in his administration.

But with his five-year tenure due to expire in less than two years, members of his ragtag unity government have begun reverting to old positions to win back support from their respective voter bases who are unhappy with the political compromises they made to join the coalition.

It was Anwar himself who fanned the flames of political conflict on Sunday, when he declared that his ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition was ready for a fight.

“If the drums of war are being beaten and people want to start a war, we are ready and we will fight,” he said at the PH annual convention in Johor.