Malaysia's Anwar in triumphant return to parliament

Malaysia's leader in waiting Anwar Ibrahim returned to parliament as a lawmaker Monday, and vowed to give former nemesis Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad space to get on with running the country.

MPs applauded as Anwar took the oath of office following his weekend local election victory, a sight that would have been unthinkable just months ago when he was an opposition leader languishing behind bars. The former deputy premier's remarkable political resurrection was triggered by his alliance's shock election victory in May, which toppled a corruption-riddled coalition that had ruled Malaysia for six decades.

Following the triumph, Anwar was pardoned and released from jail, where had been imprisoned since 2015 on widely criticised sodomy charges, and is now the presumptive successor to the country's leadership. Mahathir, 93, has pledged to hand power to Anwar within two years. The deal was struck when the pair, whose up-and-down relationship has long loomed over Malaysian politics, formed an unlikely alliance to take on the government of Najib Razak.

- AFP