Early life
Anwar was born on 10 August 1947 in Penang, Malaya. His father was a politician who served United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party –the oldest national political party within Malaysia- and his mother was also a UMNO worker.
He is an alumnus of the University of Malaya and has a master’s degree in literature from the National University of Malaysia. Anwar founded the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia in 1971 and became known as an Islamist youth leader.
Career
Anwar joined UMNO at the invitation of then-PM Mahathir Mohamad in 1982. He rapidly rose in ranks and served as the minister of various departments including culture, youth and sports in 1983, agriculture in 1984, education in 1986, and finance in 1991.
During his tenure as the minister of education, Anwar was elected as the President of UNESCO's General Conference. He was the president of the International Islamic University of Malaysia in 1998.
As a finance minister, he is hailed for guiding Malaysia through the 1997 Asian financial crisis. He was selected as the Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1998.
Anwar served as Mahathir’s deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998. He also served as an acting PM in 1997 when Mahathir was on two-month leave and was said to be the latter’s successor. But Anwar’s relations strained with Mahathir due to conflicts within the UMNO party and he was fired from the cabinet in September 1998.
He was imprisoned in 1999 on charges of corruption and sodomy and served a jail term of six years. He was arrested on charges of sodomy again in 2008 and was acquitted of the charge in 2012 by the Malaysian High court.
Anwar contested the November 2022 elections from the Alliance of Hope and secured 82 seats while the opponent National Alliance secured 73 seats, both falling short of the required 112-mark majority. He was appointed as the PM by monarch Al-Sultan Abdullah on November 24, 2022.
