Anwar, 75, who is also serving as the country’s finance minister, last week took steps to solidify his support by signing a cooperation agreement with smaller political parties. The parties agreed to ensure political stability, boost the economy, promote good governance, and maintain the country’s majority Malay community and Islam as its official religion.
Anwar – who has spent more than two decades as an opposition figure – was denied the premiership despite being within striking distance in earlier years.
In between, he spent nearly a decade in prison for sodomy and corruption, which he says were politically motivated charges.