Anwar Ibrahim: from student activist and deputy prime minister to Malaysia's 10th prime minister

Anwar Ibrahim is born in Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

He grows up in a politically engaged family and later studies at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar before continuing at the University of Malaya.

Youth activism becomes Anwar's first national platform.

He establishes Yayasan Anda Akademik in 1971 and becomes closely associated with student and Islamic youth organising, including PKPIM and the formation of ABIM in 1972.

Anwar is detained under the Internal Security Act during the student-protest period.

He is arrested after joining protests connected with rural poverty and student mobilisation and spends about 20 months in detention.

Accounts of the 1974 Baling protests differ on the exact role played by individual student leaders. PulseKita records the detention without claiming that Anwar personally led every Baling protest.

Anwar joins UMNO and enters government.

After years as a prominent Islamic youth leader, he accepts an invitation to join UMNO, wins the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat and enters the administration as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

A rapid Cabinet rise puts Anwar near the top of national politics.

He serves successively as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Education and then Minister of Finance.

Anwar becomes deputy prime minister and is widely viewed as Mahathir's likely successor.

The appointment places him one step from the premiership after little more than a decade in UMNO and the federal government.

He is dismissed from government; the Reformasi era begins.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad removes Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister amid a deep political rupture during the Asian Financial Crisis. Anwar is later expelled from UMNO, mobilises Reformasi rallies and is arrested.

The criminal cases that followed were politically contested. Court judgments had legal effect, while Anwar and supporters maintained that the prosecutions were politically motivated.

The Federal Court overturns the first sodomy conviction and Anwar is released.

The majority decision ends this phase of his imprisonment and opens the way for a gradual return to frontline opposition politics.

The ruling concerned the first sodomy conviction; it did not erase every earlier conviction arising from the Reformasi-era cases.

Anwar wins the Permatang Pauh by-election and returns to Parliament.

Ten years after his removal from government, he re-enters the Dewan Rakyat and becomes parliamentary opposition leader.

A second sodomy conviction sends Anwar back to prison.

Malaysia's Federal Court upholds the conviction and five-year sentence. Anwar again says the case is politically motivated.

Anwar receives a full royal pardon after the 2018 change of federal government.

Days after Pakatan Harapan defeats Barisan Nasional in GE14, Anwar is released and regains eligibility to participate fully in politics. Mahathir returns as prime minister under an alliance that publicly anticipated a later leadership transition.

The Pakatan Harapan government collapses before the expected transition to Anwar.

Political defections and coalition realignment end Mahathir's second administration. Muhyiddin Yassin becomes prime minister, leaving Anwar once again outside the premiership.

GE15 produces a hung Parliament and a five-day contest over who can command a majority.

Pakatan Harapan wins the largest number of seats but no coalition reaches a simple majority on election night. The King consults party leaders and the Malay Rulers as negotiations continue.

Anwar Ibrahim is sworn in as Malaysia's 10th prime minister.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah appoints Anwar under Articles 40(2)(a) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution after concluding that he is the MP likely to command majority confidence.