From pig farms to petrol prices, Anwar’s government is running out of easy answers

KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government is facing mounting pressure on multiple fronts – from royal palaces to university campuses – as speculation grows over a possible snap election later in 2026.

Datuk Seri Anwar’s government has had to deal with sweeping US tariffs, as well as the fallout from the Gaza conflict and global energy supply disruptions amid tensions between the US and Iran that have pushed fuel subsidy costs sharply higher.

And the strain on his administration is beginning to show.

In Selangor – a state ruled by his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition since 2008 – tensions have surfaced between the state government and the palace over a proposed modern pig farming project.

The state government had planned to develop a 202ha closed-system pig farm designed to better manage waste, odours and disease compared with traditional open-air farms. But public backlash over the proposal prompted a rare royal rebuke from Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who decreed that pig farming should not operate in the state.

Veteran journalist A. Kadir Jasin warned that the issue could have political consequences for PH if mishandled.

“In Selangor, it has reached the Palace. His Majesty the Sultan is displeased and does not wish for pig rearing in his state,” Datuk Kadir wrote on Facebook.

The controversy underscores the cultural and political sensitivities in Selangor, Malaysia’s most populous state, where Malay Muslims form just over half the population, alongside sizeable ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

The row centres on land use and political optics as much as religious sentiment. Although pigs are considered impure in Islam, pork remains widely consumed in non-Muslim communities. Bak kut teh, a Chinese herbal pork rib dish closely associated with the Selangor port city of Klang, is especially popular.

Mr Kadir noted that PH had already lost ground among Malay voters during the 2023 state elections, when the coalition ceded 11 seats in a broader swing among Malay voters towards the opposition.

Subsidy cuts target top earners

PH, which has long relied on support from urban middle-class voters, is also facing growing public discontent over government plans to rationalise fuel subsidies, including removing them for higher-income earners.

The government says monthly petrol subsidy expenditure has surged from about RM700 million (S$227 million) to RM6 billion with rising global oil prices and tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Despite this, Malaysia continues to cap RON95 petrol at RM1.99 per litre, below the estimated market price of RM3.87.

On May 11, the Prime Minister said his administration had agreed on targeting higher-income earners as part of a subsidy rationalisation scheme, but had yet to decide on the threshold.

“We have yet to decide whether (the cuts will apply to) the T20, T15, T10 or T5, as we do not want it to impact the upper middle class,” Mr Anwar told reporters, referring to the top 20, 15, 10 and 5 per cent of household income brackets.

“In principle, we agree (to a review) and they are working to finalise it soon.”

Many in the T20 bracket argue that Malaysia’s income group classifications unfairly lump middle-income dual-earner households together with millionaires.

Addressing the concern, Kepong lawmaker Lim Lip Eng reminded the government that income bracket labels do not necessarily reflect a household’s actual financial circumstances.

“A household above the national T20 line may still struggle badly in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor or the Klang Valley after paying for housing, car loans, children’s education, insurance, elderly parents and daily living costs,” Mr Lim said in a statement on May 12.

“These are not millionaires. These are ordinary middle-class families working hard just to keep their heads above water.”

The economic situation is increasingly working against PH, whose appeal had been built partly on promises to ease living costs, including fuel prices, said political analyst Tunku Mohar Mokhtar from the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Mr Anwar became Malaysia’s 10th prime minister in November 2022 after a hung general election forced rival political blocs into an uneasy coalition.

Upon taking office, he declared the cost of living a key priority of his administration as Malaysia struggled to recover from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Despite the rhetoric, people feel the consequences of rising living costs,” Mr Mohar told The Straits Times. “Anwar is seen to be trying to be nice to everyone, but in the process, he somehow makes everyone unhappy.”

Rumours have been brewing that the Prime Minister may call elections later in 2026, even though his government has the mandate to govern until February 2028.

“Failure in fighting corruption and the rising costs of living – amplified by narratives on social media – are construed as a sign of weak leadership,” Mr Mohar said.

Anwar’s own base turns on him

But the disillusionment with Mr Anwar’s leadership extends to his own base.

On May 11, seven of the 15 members of Mahasiswa Keadilan, the student wing of his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), announced their resignation from their posts and the party, saying they had lost faith in Mr Anwar’s leadership.

The resignations were especially striking given Mr Anwar’s own political origins as a student activist. He had campaigned over poverty, rural Malay disenfranchisement and what he viewed as the failures of Malaysia’s post-independence political order.

Mr Ram Erfan Zur Nuqman, who chaired the wing, outlined what he described as Mr Anwar’s “failures”. These included alleged links between the government and a so-called “corporate mafia”, controversy surrounding former anti-corruption chief Azam Baki’s stock holdings,and a failure to reform the government.

“This includes the Sedition Act, which continues to be used to pressure our friends in the student activism circle,” Mr Ram Erfan said.

“These are ‘red lines’ for us and are in no way exhaustive.”