KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, with a convincing victory in the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election, has taken another step towards becoming the eighth prime minister of Malaysia.
The Pakatan Harapan MP for Port Dickson is expected to be sworn in on Monday when the Dewan Rakyat convenes for its second meeting of 2018.
Anwar polled 31,016 votes in the by-election and secured a majority of 23,560. He beat Lt Col (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar of PAS (who polled 7,456 votes) and five independent candidates – former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad (4,230 votes); social media personality Stevie Chan (337); Lau Seck Yan (214); Kan Chee Yuen (154) and Anwar’s former personal aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan (82 votes).
Twenty years ago, Anwar, then the deputy prime minister, was sacked from the government. He was tried and jailed on a sodomy charge and then started the reformation movement that saw the establishment of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Anwar was released from prison in 2004 and returned to Parliament as the Opposition Leader after winning the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election in 2008.
However, he had to return to jail in 2015 on another sodomy charge and was released on May 16 this year with a royal pardon.
Anwar was the prime mover of the reformation agenda which has brought about a change to the political landscape of the country, but not without an uphill struggle.
Born on Oct 10, 1947, in Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Anwar received his early education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Cherok Tok Kun and Sekolah Kebangsaan Stowell.
He pursued secondary education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar from 1960 to 1966 and took up Malay Studies (Literature) in Universiti Malaya from 1967 to 1971.
Anwar, who helmed Yayasan Anda and the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), ventured into politics by joining UMNO in 1982 and contested in the 6th general election in the same year.
He contested and won the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat and retained the seat for three more terms.
Anwar’s star was shining bright and he rose quickly up the political ladder to be appointed into various positions in the Cabinet of then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He started off as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in 1982, then became Culture, Youth and Sports Minister in 1983; Agriculture Minister in 1984; Education Minister in 1986 and Finance Minister in 1991.
Anwar was regarded as a protege as Dr Mahathir and found himself appointed as the deputy prime minister in 1993. He was sacked in 1998.
Now, as the MP for Port Dickson, Anwar can look forward to becoming the eight prime minister as agreed to by the Pakatan Harapan coalition. — Bernama
