From friends to foes and now back as friends: Anwar felt at ease at Umno's general assembly

KUALA LUMPUR – He was once shamefully discarded by the party a quarter-century ago but today, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expressed a surprising sense of ease and comfort as he graced Umno’s general meeting under his capacity as Prime Minister.

“I felt comfortable, relaxed. I was already familiar with the atmosphere here, still remembered the lyrics to the party’s anthem,” Anwar told reporters as he was about to leave Umno’s HQ here at Kuala Lumpur World Trade Centre.

Anwar who was once the deputy president of Umno was sacked by then-president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in September 1998; it was a fall that triggered his decades-old quest for power and political feud against the Malay party.

“My personal experience [with Umno] is important but it must not supersede the interests of the people that is why I am using this unity platform to strengthen the government for the benefit of the masses,” the Pakatan Harapan (PH) de facto leader added.

Anwar managed to become Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister, on November 24, 2022, following a week-long deadlock – due to no single parties winning enough seats in the 15th General Election to form government on their own – after Umno and Barisan Nasional forged an alliance with PH.