Reformasi (Malaysia)

Reformasi refers to political movements in Malaysia that first emerged in September 1998. It was initiated by Anwar Ibrahim, then the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, following his dismissal from office by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The movement began during the 1998 Commonwealth Games, which Malaysia was hosting, and initially called for Mahathir's resignation and an end to the Barisan Nasional (BN)'s dominance. Over time, Reformasi evolved into a broader reformist movement advocating democracy, social equality and social justice in Malaysia. At the time, Mahathir had been in power since 1981, and his administration had been criticised for increasingly authoritarian tendencies, particularly following Operation Lalang in 1987. Reformasi activities included civil disobedience, demonstrations, sit-ins, rioting, occupations and online activism, among others.

Building upon the momentum of Reformasi, Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, established the Social Justice Movement (Malay: Pergerakan Keadilan Sosial, abbreviated as ADIL) in late 1998. Efforts to register ADIL as a political party were unsuccessful, leading members to merge with the Ikatan Masyarakat Islam Malaysia (IKATAN), a small Islamic political party based in Terengganu. This merger resulted in the creation of the Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) in 1999. Later that year, PKN joined forces with the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to form the Barisan Alternatif (BA), which contested the 1999 general election and the 2004 Malaysian general election. The BA aimed to provide a united opposition front against BN, though it faced challenges in maintaining cohesion due to ideological differences among its member parties.

In 2003, the PKN merged with the PRM to form the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which later became a principal component of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that made significant electoral gains in the 2008 and 2013 general elections, reducing the BN's parliamentary dominance. After PR dissolved in 2015, PKR joined the newly formed Pakatan Harapan (PH), which won the 2018 Malaysian general election under the leadership of former prime minister Mahathir, an ironic twist given his past role in the events that sparked Reformasi, ending BN's uninterrupted hold on federal power since the 1955 general election. While Reformasi has achieved major political breakthroughs and reshaped Malaysia's electoral landscape, it remains an ongoing movement, with persistent political instability and shifting alliances highlighted by the revival of both old and new rivalries during the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis and beyond. Some analysts have suggested that the Reformasi reached its logical conclusion, despite the persistence of certain underlying issues, with Anwar's ascension to the premiership in 2022 and the policy directions of his administration.