Malaysian PM sails through confidence vote

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim cruised through a vote of confidence on Monday, cementing his leadership after a general election last month produced no clear winner. Anwar, whose coalition led the November 19 election with 82 seats, subsequently formed a unity government with several smaller rival parties. But former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malay-centric opposition alliance, which has 74 parliamentary seats, questioned his legitimacy. The vote, called by Anwar’s government at the start of a two-day special parliamentary session, was a show of strength intended to remove doubts over his authority to govern and the stability of his administration. Leaders of parties in his government agreed on Friday on a cooperation pact for a five-year term, giving him the backing of 148 lawmakers, a two-thirds majority that no leader has had since 2008. The motion was passed through a simple voice vote after a debate by lawmakers. The opposition earlier slammed a clause in the government’s cooperation pact that put lawmakers at risk of losing their seats if they failed to toe the line, calling it unconstitutional and oppressive. Government lawmakers defended the move as necessary to ensure the government won’t be put in jeopardy by the action of individual lawmakers. Malaysia has been rocked by political instability since 2018 polls with a series of three prime ministers before Anwar took over due to party infighting and defections. The strong mandate will help Anwar navigate an expected economic slowdown next year, but he faces stiff challenges in uniting a polarised nation.