December 4, 2022 (Brian Berletic - New Eastern Outlook) - The elections unfolded shortly after the G20 meeting held in nearby Indonesia and the APEC 2022 forum held in Thailand. Taken together, we see both the significant shifting of the region and the world away from US-led unipolarism toward multipolarism, but also efforts by the US to retain its power and influence worldwide.
Anwar Ibrahim is a polarizing figure in Malaysian politics and a long-time ally of Washington who has spent decades and millions of dollars providing him and others across Malaysia’s opposition political support.
With Anwar Ibrahim now prime minister of Malaysia, considering the significant amount of US support provided to him and the network that brought him into power over the decades, there are fears that Malaysia will now not only begin distancing itself from cooperation with China, but will also become a belligerent US proxy amid growing US-Chinese tensions.
Anwar Ibrahim’s Deep US Backing
These fears are rooted in Anwar Ibrahim’s long-standing association with Washington-based regime change organizations, particularly the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as well as its many subsidiaries.
Anwar Ibrahim has literally traveled to Washington DC to participate in US NED activities. He participated in a 2007 panel discussion titled, “The Legacy of Westminster: Democracy Assistance Since the Founding of NED and the Challenges Ahead,” for example. But more troubling is the US NED-funded opposition movement he has helped lead for years, “Bersih.”
Bersih began taking to the streets in yellow-colored protests in 2007. The organization is often presented by the Western media as a grassroots movement, yet it is actually made up of opposition parties including Anwar Ibrahim’s People’s Justice Party (PJP). Anwar Ibrahim himself had openly led calls for the public to join the movement’s rallies over the years.
