KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been sworn in as the 10th prime minister.
He took his oath before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at 5pm, ending his over two-decade wait to be appointed to the country's top post.
The closest Anwar, 75, came to the post was as acting prime minister for two months in 1997. At the time he was deputy prime minister, a post he was appointed to in 1993.
In 1998, he was expelled from Umno, fired from the government and arrested under the now defunct Internal Security Act.
The same year he intiated the Reformasi movement, leading to the formation of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
The coalition of two parties PKR and DAP in 2014, gave birth to Pakatan Rakyat which was later rebranded Pakatan Harapan (PH).
In the recently concluded 15th General Election, PH emerged the biggest winner with 83 seats
His immediate next task would be the formation of the government, which has been under the caretakership of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The country had been left without a new government for the last five days after the 15th general election (GE15) results threw up a hung parliament with no coalition winning the simple majority of 112 seats.
PH obtained the higest number of seats at 82 followed by PN with 73, BN with 30, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) with 23, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) with six, Parti Warisan Sabah with three, Parti Bangsa Malaysia and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat with one seat each.
There were also two independent winners.
The unprecedented outcome had led to a political turmoil with Pakatan Harapan (PH) which is led by Anwar, and Perikatan Nasional (PN) led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin both staking claim to lead the country.
However, both sides ended up scrambling for numbers and after a back and forth with the palace, the king yesterday announced that a decision on the country's next prime minister would be announced after a special conference of rulers meeting today.
The imbroglio was finally broken this morning after the Rulers convened and decided that Anwar should be appointed as PM.
MORE TO COME