KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's appointment as the 10th prime minister will not be free of challenges, his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar said.
She said while Anwar's wait to be the prime minister since 1998 was finally realised, her father would face a few challenges in restoring the country to its former glory.
"Challenges still await, after the swearing-in ceremony, for efforts to unite the people, examine economic problems, attract investment through economic stimulus and local talent, building the ummah and the nation based on social justice.
"One thing for sure, since 1998 until now, it was our duty to stick to the lines of struggle, demanding justice not for ourselves, but as a catalyst of protection for all.
"The legacy we leave for our children and future generations is not property, rank or money, but idealism and principles of struggle that cannot be bought or sold.
"In life, we cannot escape challenges. When we lose, we are challenged. When we win, we will also face challenges," she wrote on her Twitter page today.
Anwar started his political career as a student activist, founding the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) in 1971 and later led protests against rural poverty and on other socio-economic causes.
His activism caught the eye of then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Several years after joining Umno, Anwar rose rapidly through the ranks and was named the deputy prime minister in 1997.
In September 1998, Anwar was sacked and accused of corruption and sodomy. As a result, thousands took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur and Anwar, who maintained that the charges were politically motivated, was arrested.
In total, Anwar spent some 10 years in prison before he was finally pardoned and released in 2018.
By that time he had once again joined forces with Dr Mahathir under the Pakatan Harapan banner in a bid to oust Barisan Nasional.