Serina Rahman
Under renewed political pressure, Malaysia’s prime minister tells the country a positive story of successful response and recovery from the public health and economic crisis. Unions and NGOs do not paint the same picture.
Norshahril Saat|Mohd Faizal Musa
Anwar Ibrahim claims that he has enough political support to be the country’s next prime minister. The key here is whether he can assure the Malay-Muslim majority that their rights will not be undermined.
Francis E. Hutchinson
Anwar Ibrahim told reporters today that his Pakatan Harapan coalition has the numbers to command a majority in Parliament. If history is any guide, the political manoeuvre could well be a stab in the dark.
Mohd Faizal Musa|Siti Syazwani Zainal Abidin
Led by the youthful Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, the newly-established Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) might well be able to break the political deadlock that has long dominated Malaysian politics.
Syafiq Hasyim
Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs’ planned certification programme for Muslim preachers creates another state-mosque flashpoint.
Giora Eliraz
The recently-concluded peace agreements between Israel and both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have elicited a delayed and carefully-phrased response from Indonesia and a relatively mild response from Malaysia. Indonesia’s growing relations with the UAE could be a factor in the delayed response. Malaysia’s reaction, however, is more difficult to fathom.
Le Hong Hiep
Mr Nguyen Phu Trong has been general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam for two terms, and party rules stipulate that the incumbent cannot hold the position for longer than that. But there is more than meets the eye.
Hoang Thi Ha
With Vietnam at the helm of ASEAN this year, the grouping has wielded the aegis of international law to ensure that international and regional concerns about the South China Sea are respected in Code of Conduct negotiations.
A'an Suryana|Nur Syafiqah Mohd Taufek
The central government’s proposal to ban the niqab in Indonesian public offices faces pushback from local political leaders and various quarters of the country’s Muslim community.
Sharon Seah
A long-running review of the ASEAN Charter may yet bear fruit – or it may not.