Anwar’s first 100 days: from hope to concern

On the market side, nothing was done to break down the government regulated monopolies, or further deregulate the economy. The future of GLCs appears intact. The trend of big spending continues with Anwar delivering the largest budget ever.

There should be some benefit of doubt given to Anwar, as he effectively had only two months to prepare the revised 2023 budget. The budget was still based upon the traditional template past governments have employed, with no signs of any major policy rethink. It appears the budget had the coming six state elections in mind.

Social and other policy reform

As mentioned above, Anwar has left many policy announcements to his respective ministers themselves. Most new policy announcements have been undertaken on an ad hoc basis. There doesn't appear to be any grand vision behind them, except for Anwar's expensive launch of Malaysia Madani.

Some of the more bizarre acts undertaken was the free sanitary napkins handed out at the health ministry to assist in reliving poverty (civil servants are by no means living in poverty), and the deployment of RM 2 nasi lemak meals by vending machines at train stations.

Conferring Malaysian citizenship upon children born to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers overseas was accepted as a very positive move. However, the bill has yet to go through parliament, so a constitutional amendment can be made. The clampdown on corruption has been welcomed by many. However, some see that arrests are skewed towards opposition politicians. These arrests continue to highlight Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's position as deputy prime minister with 47 criminal charges hanging over his head.

The appointment of Anwar's daughter, Nurul Izzah led to widespread distain and claims of nepotism. Damage control was poor with claims she was working pro bono. This eventually led to her transfer to another job. Home minister Saifiddin Nasution Ismail's statement that the SOSMA laws, which allow for detention pending police investigation, angered many of Pakatan's old reformasi era supporters. Anwar also claimed the civil service is in no need of reform, which cast doubts about his administration's willingness to tackle the difficult issues facing the nation.

Regional Affairs

Anwar has made it a very high priority to travel the region to meet with political leaders. Before Anwar's visit to Thailand, the media drummed up the story that Anwar would be able to settle issues within Thailand's deep south insurgency. However, Anwar has run into a quagmire with the regional body ASEAN, where from Thailand's lead there is great hesitancy to criticize the military junta in Myanmar. It appears Anwar will not be able to play a major role through ASEAN, due to the lost inertia of the organization. Anwar's key challenge will be creating a balance between China, Malaysia's largest trading partner, and the US within the South China Sea region.

Where is the Anwar administration heading?

Putting popularity polls aside, Anwar's key challenge will be to increase his popularity in the Malay heartlands. In reality, Anwar will have to sit back on reforms until this problem is successfully addressed. Anwar may also have to prepare for a setback to his legitimacy with the coming 6 state elections. However, his term will still has four years to run.

We are seeing a prime minister who is not following the precedents of the previous prime ministers. His 'hands off' approach will work very well if he has a good cabinet. He doesn't have that today. His new ministry with so much inexperience can be expected to make numerous mistakes over the coming year or so.

At this point of time, the Anwar administration looks very much like a status quo government, which is probably the most prudent, and conservative way to go. Anwar doesn't have the wow factor that Thailand's Thaksin had when he came to power two decades ago. He looks more like a Megawati Sukarno of Indonesia. There is no doubt Anwar is an icon of Malaysian politics. He has the chance to shift the paradigm of politics in Malaysia come 2024, if stability to his administration continues. Alternatively, he may choose to steer the ship along steady seas.

The Malaysian people are still divided with their conclusions on Anwar.

You can't offset your way out of an industry crisis.