Anwar s Islamic credentials crucial to safeguard premiership

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is a known reformist and Muslim democrat who has led a multiracial party for the past two decades.

- Ram Anand

But he may now need to fall back on his Islamic and nationalist roots to win over a majority of the country's dominant Malay population that voted for conservative Muslim opposition parties in the recent general election.

Datuk Seri Anwar, 75, started his career in public life as one of the earliest proponents of political Islam.

He co-founded the Islamic youth organisation Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia and advocated for Islamic principles that clashed with Umno's nationalist roots at the time.

This caught the attention of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who became premier in 1981 at a time when opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) had branded Umno as kafirs (infidels) for not being Islamic enough.

Dr Mahathir roped in Mr Anwar, whose approach helped Umno seize the Islamic narrative from PAS, pushing the latter to pursue a more conservative and fundamentalist Islamic politics.

Mr Anwar was made Deputy Minister in the PM's Department when he joined Umno in 1982 and spearheaded the move to set up Malaysia's first Islamic bank, Bank Islam, the following year.

He went on to hold the Youth and Sports, Education and Finance portfolios before becoming Deputy Prime Minister in 1993.

Mr Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, deputy managing director of public policy consultancy BowerGroupAsia, noted that Mr Anwar "arguably Islamised (Umno)'s identity and government policies".