Anwar as PM a positive step taken by Malaysia, says Saudi newspaper

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A COLUMNIST in the Saudi Arabian newspaper, Arab News, says the world is in chaos and it needed some positive news and that came with the appointment of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The columnist, Dr Azeem Ibrahim is director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington DC.

He says Anwar’s appointment is also good news for the Muslim world and is one of the events that is happening across the globe that is worth stopping to mark the moment.

“One such tentative positive step was recently taken by Malaysia. Anwar, a perennial opposition leader, took office as prime minister last month. That he might do so seemed unlikely, even impossible, for more than two decades. In all that time, during crisis after crisis, scandal after scandal, Anwar toiled in the political wilderness. It was a very difficult road,” wrote Dr Azeem.

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Anwar’s premiership bodes well for Muslim world: Washington academic

KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s recent ascension to Malaysia’s top post is not only good news for the Southeast Asian nation but also for the Muslim world at large, a prominent international academician said.

Azeem Ibrahim, the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington D.C., said this is because the PKR leader has had solid experience in leading Malaysia, pointing to his stints as finance minister and deputy prime minister in the 1990s.

In a commentary titled Anwar Ibrahim is good news for the Muslim world, Azeem said Anwar’s long tenure and “steady hands” during that period meant that he is internationally respected.

“His time as the head of Malaysia’s economy coincided with a period of remarkable growth and optimism. It was the era of the Asian Tigers,” Azeem noted in the piece, which was published in Arab News on Friday.

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The Economist is shocked that Anwar is PM

IT is not surprising that The Economist is still in a state of shock over the hazy event in Malaysia given how many foreign media outlets had similarly expressed their shock and disbelief when Pakatan Harapan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took his oath  of office as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The online version of the magazine, in an opinion piece, said that it thought that there were many versions (four to be exact) of Anwar and is still confused about which one will rule Malaysia.

In contrast, Anwar Ibrahim has only ever been known to the people of Malaysia in the form that we saw him in when he assumed office, humbled by the joy of his supporters and appreciative of his coalition partners for giving him the position that has eluded him for years.

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