Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim, Pakatan Harapan, and the limits of reformism

The Malaysian ‘unity’ government, under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim, has now been in power for nearly two years. The watchword of Anwar and Pakatan Harapan (PH), the largest coalition in parliament, has been reformasi – cleaning up corruption in politics, ‘strengthening democracy’, and promising a ‘humane’ economy that ‘prioritises the needs of the people’.

Yet, for the vast majority of Malaysian workers and youth, their lives have remained as difficult as ever while the future seems more grim by the day. Anwar’s reformasi government is exposing the limits of reformism to the working class, and the ideas of Marxism will resonate with a wider layer.

The mounting pressures in the economy

After a decade of wage stagnation, Malaysians are seeing soaring living costs. In Kuala Lumpur, 90% of families struggle to afford basic necessities. Nationally, three out of ten working adults need to borrow money to purchase essential goods. This May, millions withdrew from their retirement savings as their salaries no longer kept up with living costs. Much of this is driven by food inflation, caused mainly by the ringgit’s decline to almost record lows as Malaysia imports 60% of its food.

While saying that tackling this cost of living crisis is a national priority, Anwar’s administration is instead carrying out cuts and attacks on the working class. They shamefully cut subsidies to chicken and diesel fuel, and have hinted at rationalising subsidies for petrol as well. The Madani ‘humane’ economy has amounted to nothing more than austerity to reduce the government’s fiscal deficit and sovereign debt, which stands at a whopping 64% of GDP.

The democratic reforms and purging of corruption that define PH’s programme are also nowhere to be seen. Side-by-side with a so-far lacklustre premiership, we have the spectacle of Anwar ruling in a grand coalition with the notoriously corrupt Zahid Hamidi, president of UMNO (United Malays National Organisation), the party that sacked and jailed him two decades ago. Further, while Anwar champions the idea of a multiracial Malaysia to combat racism and ‘unite the country’, divisive racial politics remain pervasive under his rule.

For those that saw in Anwar Ibrahim an anti-establishment leader of almost legendary status, PH’s administration is a colossal disappointment. Why has Anwar’s 25-year struggle for Prime Minister resulted in more of the same for working Malaysians? To answer this, we will present a balance sheet of Anwar’s regime so far, based around three fundamental issues in Malaysian society – corruption, racial politics, and the economic struggle.

Fighting corruption – reform or revolution?

The defining aspect of Anwar’s political career is his decades-long fight against corruption and ‘money politics’. He had founded and led the Reformasi (Reform) movement in 1998, which became a mass movement against the corrupt and authoritarian Barisan Nasional (BN) regime. For this, he was sacked from his ministerial positions, expelled from his party, physically beaten by police, and jailed twice for trumped-up charges of corruption and sodomy. He then founded what later became Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR, or People’s Justice Party), a major component in the Pakatan Harapan alliance.

Anwar founded and led the Reformasi (Reform) movement in 1998 / Image: fair use

Anwar’s long past in activism against authoritarianism, racism and corruption earned him respect among a layer of workers and youths in Malaysia. For a long time he also argued that a change of government would be able to root out corruption. Yet as we will see, the liberal, reformist Anwar and his ilk are completely impotent to resolve the issue when they are given charge of the state.

Pakatan Harapan, won their first electoral victory in 2018 elections, just after Malaysia had been rocked by former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 1MDB corruption scandal that saw nearly $700 million USD worth of public funds into his own bank account. In this context, the PH, which has never governed before, was seen as an alternative to the corrupt establishment. 

The first PH government lasted only two years before its own Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad, wrecked the coalition. During this time, besides jailing Najib, all the anti-corruption pledges in their election manifesto were implemented slowly and half-heartedly. 

Now, with Anwar Ibrahim himself as Prime Minister for the second PH government, PH has again stalled their commitment to fight corruption, repeal politically repressive laws, and implement other democratic freedoms. The most blatant example is when prosecutors in the Attorney General’s Chambers dropped 47 charges of corruption against the Deputy Prime Minister, Zahid Hamidi. Instead of repealing the Sedition Act, the PH administration has instead used it to silence opposition politicians.

Some say that Anwar is moderating his fight against corruption until he can obtain a larger parliamentary majority and no longer has to rely on an alliance with BN. In other words, they think that if they replaced the corrupt and evil politicians and parties in favour of the clean and good PH, then there would be no more corruption in Malaysia. Yet, corruption infects parliament and the state apparatus as a whole. Anwar himself alluded to this at PKR’s 25th anniversary convention this year, saying “The battle against the corrupt is never easy. First, [there are] personalities with enormous wealth and influence. Second, they have their networking among those in government and in opposition.”

Malaysians will be familiar with ultra-wealthy tycoons like Robert Kuok who donated hundreds of millions to UMNO, and Syed Mokhtar Albukhary to BERSATU. Politicians in turn are elected to head massive government-linked companies (GLCs), like PKR backbencher Bakhtiar Wan Chik being appointed as chairman of MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd. These GLCs that straddle the Malaysian economy, along with the state and federal governments, then award lucrative procurement contracts and licences to their donors and friends in business.

Cabinet ministers are also regularly elected from the upper echelons of corporate Malaysia, and many MPs have links to private companies. For example, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Anwar’s current Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, was former Group CEO of CIMB. William Leong of PKR (Anwar’s own party), MP of Selayang, held directorships in multiple offshore companies when he was still in parliament. Both Leong and Tengku Zafrul were named in the Pandora Papers leak in 2021 for holding positions in offshore companies. The list of politicians with these involvements is endless.

There is no set of laws that can be passed to eradicate the influence of big business when the lawmakers themselves are in league with them. This symbiotic relationship between the state and the capitalist class cannot be reformed even if PH has a two-thirds majority.

Marx and Lenin explained that bourgeois democracy is democracy for and by the rich. In other words, only members of the ruling class have democracy among themselves, while the rest of society is but raw material for exploitation at their command. The parliamentarians in Kuala Lumpur are tied by a thousand threads to the monopolies and big banks. They are already in the pockets of the ruling class, and they faithfully represent them. Corruption is but an overt expression of this reality. If needed, they can always legalise these behaviours. 

In the final analysis, capitalism cannot exist without corruption. No amount of reforms can root it out of the state that is owned and controlled by the bourgeoisie. Only if the workers take power and are directly involved in the running of society, free of privileges and powers reserved for functionaries and bureaucrats, can corruption be rooted out. The Anwar government’s impotence in dealing with this merely reflects this reality.

Racial politics or class struggle?

Anwar’s main headache is his precarious position in parliament. He is only backed up by a fragile alliance with the discredited Barisan Nasional, which is headed by UMNO. This is when UMNO’s support is at its lowest after ruling Malaysia for decades. Yet PH is not stepping into this political vacuum, as it sees dwindling support among the Malay-Muslim majority. PH’s significant defeat in the Sungai Bakap by-election this July, a constituency where Malays make up 60% of the population, is an example of this.

Anwar’s main headache is his precarious position in parliament / Image: Firdaus Latif, Wikimedia Commons

Instead of healing the ethnic-religious divide that has plagued Malaysian politics from its inception, Anwar has played into Malay-Muslim chauvinism to try to recover his recent losses in support, while maintaining a semblance of his trademark ‘progressivism’ to not alienate his urban non-Muslim voters. For example, his administration cracked down on overt displays of LGBT support to appeal to the conservative and religious Malay-Muslim elements, while reaffirming in words, that members of the LGBT community should not be harassed. He is trying to play both sides in the ‘culture war’ that is a feature of Malay politics.

The cynical bourgeois politicians and commentators say that he must do more to win the Malay vote. What they really mean is that Anwar should whip up more Malay chauvinism to distract from issues that affect the working class as a whole. As the Prime Minister for Malaysian capitalism, Anwar cannot help but continue the divide-and-rule tactics they learned from their British predecessors.

Of course, the far right opposition parties like PAS (the Malaysian Islamic Party) and BERSATU have absolutely nothing to offer to working class Malays or otherwise. For all their Islamist rhetoric, in the final analysis they are also subservient to the Malaysian monopolies and banks. In the face of capitalist crisis, these parties will soon be tested by and discredited in the eyes of the working class in practice.

Rising class anger

Under the current conditions of capitalist crisis, Malaysian workers are beginning to awaken to political life. But in the absence of a revolutionary party with a clear programme, this can take on a distorted form.

An anti-Anwar rally in June, manipulated by right-wing elements, shows precisely this. Albeit small, the movement demanded Anwar step down for reneging on his promises and making life harder for Malaysian workers. Among its eight demands are the restoration of diesel subsidies, price controls on petrol, addressing the rice shortage, fixing the healthcare system, and protecting freedom of speech.

The programme clearly appeals to class anger. However, as there is no working class party with a consistent revolutionary programme, the movement has been co-opted by reactionary leaders, with BERSATU members speaking at the rally and Dayangku Intan of PAS being one of its organisers. The intervention of reactionary politicians in turn confuses and muddies the water, channelling anger back into the usual divisive racial politics of Malaysia.

In the absence of a revolutionary leadership, there is a danger that this rising class anger will continue to express itself in distorted ways – that is, directed through racial politics, and not into a united class struggle against the capitalists. If guided down the path of racial politics, it will only hurt workers and youth of all races.

The PH and Anwar are fundamentally incapable of solving any of the existing and worsening social crises in Malaysia / Image: udeyismail, Flickr

The PH and Anwar are fundamentally incapable of solving any of the existing and worsening social crises in Malaysia. Their perspective is the same: to manage capitalism on behalf of the Malaysian ruling class. They never held any perspective of breaking with it. Anwar, despite his authority as a ‘freedom fighter’ in the past, has always tried to reconcile with the reactionary establishment of Malaysia. 

He first let Mahathir lead PH, which immediately ended in the latter’s betrayal, and then formed a unity government with the hated BN-UMNO. Even if PH wins a bigger majority in the next general election, Anwar will remain an enforcer of the ruling class’ will, and will only become the main target for the discontent of the masses.

For a revolutionary workers’ party of Malaysia

Anwar and Pakatan Harapan are incapable of solving the pressing issues of the working class. Their promise to end corruption is utopian because they are defenders of the capitalist system. The plundering of billions from the working class by corrupt politicians is a direct result of capitalism, and cannot be reformed away within it. Ultimately, Pakatan Harapan represents the same class interests as Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional.

This is also why Pakatan Harapan, like any other party, can offer only cuts and meagre economic reforms for the masses, while the politicians and capitalists rake in massive profits. This is the best that capitalism can provide, especially in a backward country dominated by imperialism like Malaysia. The workers and youth of Malaysia must reject PH and all parties that uphold capitalism, and fight to overthrow the system entirely.

Immense wealth already exists in Malaysian society, but it is in the hands of a tiny parasitic capitalist class. The working class must seize the banks and monopolies and democratically plan the means of production for human need. They must overthrow the capitalist state and form a workers’ state. The working class must rule society, instead of the billionaires, imperialist lackeys, and their representatives in parliament. Only a democratically planned economy, linked to a Socialist Federation of Southeast Asia, can lift the masses out of the oppression of capitalism.

The bourgeoisie will attempt to confuse the class struggle with its age old divisive racial politics. The working class must reject this and form a workers’ party of all races, based on the ideas of Marxism. Such a party, armed with a revolutionary programme, will be able to break the hold of racial politics over the working class. It would be able to explain to the masses that a Malay worker has no material interest in oppressing an Indian, Chinese, or indigenous worker. It would be able to unite the working class across ethnic and religious divides to overthrow capitalism.

The presence of a genuine revolutionary party is the key factor missing in the struggle against the capitalist system. The task of building this party falls on the shoulders of the class conscious workers and youth of Malaysia. If you agree with our perspectives, we urge you to join us in this historic task.

• Fight the cost of living crisis with united class struggle across racial divisions!
• Down with corrupt politicians! The working class should run society!
• Down with racial politics! Build a revolutionary workers’ party!
• For a socialist revolution in Malaysia and Southeast Asia! Workers of the world unite!