From ISA to Prime Minister: Anwar Ibrahim has proven that with perseverance, dreams will come true

The commemoration of the Malaysian 10th Prime Minister on the 24th of November has ended the electoral dilemma as Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim was finally elected as Prime Minister after decades of fighting for justice.

While his commemoration may produce a divided reaction among Malaysians, especially among the Malays, we can’t deny it was a bit satisfying to see this novel-like ending, making us giddy for the upcoming biographic movie of our current Prime Minister.

Despite the fact that Malaysians are on the fence in on any political party, we can’t deny there is a hinge of bittersweet feeling to see that Anwar’s story proved, perseverance and staunch belief in ourselves can make dream come true.

According to Berita Harian, the road paved for Anwar was long and rough, from the start of his political career during his university days with a strong resolve to fight for the citizens, as he had been arrested under ISA in Kamunting for 20 months, due to his action of protesting on poverty issues for Baling’s people.

After joining the party in 1981, Anwar has risen to fame in UMNO and reached a high point in his political career, with a strong portfolio as Minister of Youth and Sports (1983), Minister of Agriculture (1994), and Minister of Education (1996).

Who would have forgotten, it was during Anwar’s tenure as Minister of Finance, the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis struck, yet we are able to overcome the issues, making Malaysia a notable name across the globe.

With his position as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and success, everyone was sure that Anwar will rise as Malaysian 5th prime minister, replacing the role that had been held by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at that time.

However, Anwar’s fall from grace occurred not too long after that as he was sacked from his position due to corruption and prevention of investigation for sodomy allegation.

The reformation movement was formed, as Malaysian felt he was oppressed by the PM of that time.

Anwar’s 6-years-imprisonment charge led to the formation of Parti Keadilan Nasional, which would soon merge with Parti Rakyat Malaysia, forming what we had known as Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Despite the Malaysian Federal Court's decision to shorten Anwar’s sentence to a year, he still needs to clear his name, thus challenging Mahathir’s decision to sack him from the position of Deputy Prime Minister, however, failed as the same court deem it as legal and does not dispute Malaysian Constitution.

Due to corruption prosecution, Anwar has to wait for 5 years before contesting back as a MP in any election be it parliamentary or state. Anwar spend those 5 years, invited as a speaker and lectured at various notable institutions, such as the University of Oxford and John Hopkins University.

However, another bump hit Anwar’s road as he was unable to compete in the 2008 general election due to the early election as his restriction was not over, making Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim the head of the party with Anwar as the economic advisor.

Despite the party losing the election, the shift of power can be seen as PKR had dominated the Selangor state while their coalition partner, DAP won Penang state.

However, all was not lost to Anwar as his wife, Datin Wan Azizah paved for his comeback as she emptied the Permatang Pauh seat, for her husband and Anwar managed to come back into Parlimen on 26 Ogos 2008, a few months after GE12.

While old tactics make a comeback with claims from his aide over sodomy, thankfully, the allegation was refuted by the court over the legitimacy of DNA evidence.

However, the case was appealed and after the further proceeding, Anwar was found guilty of sodomy allegation and was sentenced to Kajang prison in 2015.

As Malaysians still remember the soap opera drama of the previous election as well as get back attempt, Anwar’s road to the Prime Minister office had been met with so many obstacles that many felt cheated by the politicians, making the 14th Malaysian Parliament session, to be one of the most tumultuous times, along with a pandemic that makes it worse.

While the anointment of Anwar Ibrahim was a long road filled with thorns and obstacles, Anwar showed us, success is not given, but paved with so many hardships and failures.

Only with true perseverance, high self-belief, and the drive to fight, we, someday might reach our dream and the Malaysian dream as well.

Peah Yaacob is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.

Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!

Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.