In partnership with AIIA Tasmania, AIIA WA is pleased to be hosting a Webinar-only discussion on Malaysian politics following the elections held on 19 November 2022, which resulted in a hung parliament and a patchwork coalition led by long term opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, being appointed Prime Minister after a nervous few days.

The 2018 ground-breaking election, at which the Barisan Nasional (National Alliance) lost government for the first time since the nation's independence in 1957, heralded the start of a new form of politics in Malaysia. Shifting coalitions of members of parliament resulted in three different Prime Ministers during the parliamentary term.

With this recent history in mind, many observers are asking questions about whether, now after more than 50 years in political life and close to 25 years since he was dismissed as the deputy prime minister, jailed for more than 10 years and built a political movement from scratch, can Anwar Ibrahim hold his unlikely coalition together, which critically includes UMNO, the party from which he was ousted in 1998.

A key outcome from the election was the emergence of PAS, the Islamist Party, as the single largest seat holder in the Parliament, proving its attraction to the Malay Muslim voters on a much broader scale that ever before. A crucial test for Anwar and his coalition allies will be whether they will be successful in attracting back the support of this significant demographic to a political model which has delivered the country multi-ethnic and multireligious governing coalitions since independence, helping the country achieve considerable economic and social progress.

Our panel discussion will explore the reasons for the elections results, how the Anwar led coalition was able to form government, how the first 100 days have gone and what do these early days say about the longevity of his leadership ? As an avowed internationalist and a reputation as a global thinker, the panel will also look at Anwar's foreign policy priorities and what his influence is likely to be in the region.

Join our discussion - moderated by President of the AIIA WA, Brendan Augustin - comprising our expert panelists: Dr James Chin, a leading scholar of contemporary Malaysian politics, a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania, and a Vice President of AIIA Tasmania; and Jahabar Sadiq, who runs the online news portal, Malaysian Insight and has been a journalist covering Malaysia and region since 1988. Both are regular guests on international news outlets reporting on developments in Malaysia.