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Malaysia
This Week in AsiaExplained

Explainer | How Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali’s mentor-protégé relationship turned sour

  • Worsening ties mark a decoupling of political destinies that were once intertwined, mirroring what happened between Mahathir and Anwar
  • Amid calls within the PKR for Azmin to be sacked, there are fears that purging a loyalist would create a martyr

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Malaysian Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali. Photo: EPA-EFE
Tashny Sukumaran

It’s been a long year for Azmin Ali, Malaysia’s Economic Affairs Minister and the deputy president of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), the largest component party of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Earlier this year, he was accused of being in a sex tape that was leaked to the media. He has also been facing increased friction from within his party over tensions between him and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who is designated to become prime minister before 2023.

On social media, Malaysians have accused Azmin of focusing on politicking instead of his job – accusations that became heightened after reports emerged he had hosted dozens of opposition members at his home for an illicit dinner. And at PKR’s internal elections last year, claims of cheating and vote-buying were thrown around liberally in what were dubbed by analysts as the party’s dirtiest elections to date.

It is believed Azmin’s recent tensions with Anwar – which has led to dramatically escalating infighting between Azmin and Anwar camps within PKR that risk undermining the stability of Pakatan Harapan – stem from his own desire to potentially become premier.
Azmin accused Anwar of attacking him during a policy address at PKR’s annual general meeting earlier this month, although the minister later backed down from the accusation by assuring Malaysians of his respect for his former mentor, even though a shaky truce had been violated between the two rival factions.

“We love the party, we built the party in hard circumstances. It is very unfair to many party leaders who have built the party for years, and then suddenly, when we want to celebrate our 20th anniversary, we become traitors. Because of these traitors, the party is now 20 years old,” he said in his most public acknowledgement of the party’s internal conflict to date.

These happenings mark a decoupling of political destinies that were previously intertwined: the two men share a long and complex history dating back to when Anwar was a minister and a top member of the now-opposition United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which administrated the country for over six decades under the previous Barisan Nasional coalition.
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