Push for Malaysia’s Nurul Izzah Anwar to be ruling party No 2 sparks debate

Some Parti Keadilan Rakyat members who want PM Anwar Ibrahim’s eldest child to take the party forward have dismissed claims of nepotism

Allegations of nepotism and dynastic ambition are swirling in Malaysia around Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after his oldest daughter was pushed forward as a candidate for the No 2 post in the ruling party, prompting speculation that she may one day become the country’s first woman prime minister.

Nurul Izzah Anwar, 44, a long-time figure in her father’s reform movement, has received a flurry of endorsements from delegates of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) this week, with many saying Anwar’s eldest child is the ideal candidate to be the party’s next deputy president.

But some critics said Nurul Izzah, who lost in the 2022 general election, had limited governance experience.

The push has triggered friction within the party, pitting her supporters against those who back Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, an Anwar loyalist who is popular with the public.

Rafizi recently took leave from office to investigate alleged irregularities with a digital voting system and highlighted issues with it after several of his close allies lost their seats in PKR’s divisional elections.

Dynastic politics have been making a comeback in Southeast Asia in recent years.

In Indonesia, former president Joko Widodo engineered the entry of Gibran Rakabuming Raka into politics, paving the way for his eldest child to become the country’s vice-president in the presidential election last year.

In the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr assumed office more than three decades after his dictator father was deposed in the 1986 People Power Revolution, while Vice-President Sara Duterte began taking on her current role on the same day that her father, Rodrigo Duterte, stepped down as president.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra governs under the shadow of her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, whose return from exile in 2023 coincided with the electoral success of Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party.

Azmi Hassan, a political analyst, said PKR had to reconsider its focus given Nurul Izzah’s rising prominence.

“People in Thailand are not that happy [with Paetongtarn] because Thaksin Shinawatra is calling the shots, so is it what PKR members want? Is it what Malaysia wants?” Azmi said. “Whoever is deputy president will likely take over the prime ministership.”

Anwar, who has close ties with Thaksin, recently appointed the former Thai leader as a special adviser on Southeast Asian affairs.

The 77-year-old Malaysian leader, who is serving his third and final term as PKR president, has voiced support for limiting a prime minister’s tenure to two terms, a key pledge in his party’s election manifesto.

Currently in his first term as prime minister, Anwar could serve a second five-year term if his party were to win the next general election due by early 2028.

Family business

PKR leaders have dismissed allegations that they are laying the path for a family dynasty, highlighting the potential of Nurul Izzah as a leading member who can advance the party.

“This isn’t about who her parents are, who she’s married to, or which faction she’s from. It’s about carrying forward the legacy of a party that needs fresh energy,” said PKR women’s wing chief Fadhlina Sidek, who is also the education minister.

Political analyst Bridget Welsh agreed that Nurul Izzah could be a generational link but said being Anwar’s daughter would continue to be a focal point.

“She wrestles with coming out of her father’s shadow and misperceptions that her support is only a product of her family ties, rather than her standing,” Welsh said.

The public will not buy the argument that she is capableJames Chin, Tasmania University academic

James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at Tasmania University, said regardless of Nurul Izzah’s competency, PKR’s brand could be damaged due to perceptions of nepotism and any sense that the party was being used as a political vehicle for her family.

“This will be the No 1 issue in the coming general election, and there is no acceptable explanation for it,” Chin said. “The public will not buy the argument that she is capable.”

Chin has called on Anwar to prevent his daughter from contesting, saying PKR was already reeling from similar allegations due to Anwar’s decision to let his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, lead the party when he was barred from office.

Nurul Izzah, a three-time parliamentarian, co-chairs an advisory council to the finance ministry, where her father is the minister.

She failed to defend the Permatang Pauh seat in Penang in the 2022 election, which had been separately held by her mother and her father previously from 1982.

The loss of the seat, which had survived the years of Anwar’s political wilderness, was widely seen as a rejection of Nurul Izzah and the Anwar clan.

While Anwar has remained silent on the matter, Nurul Izzah has expressed her gratitude to her supporters on the ground, saying she is deliberating on the matter.

“Any decisions that will be taken must consider not only the need to unite and strengthen the bond between fellow comrades, but also the need to bring new life and meaningful change to ensure that this party continues to be relevant and trusted by the Malaysian people,” she said.