Malaysia’s hosting of this year’s ASEAN summit was a resounding success for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who charmed and persuaded more than 20 world leaders to descend onto Kuala Lumpur, including US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
The presence of two powerful leaders from two countries who are also the fiercest rivals gave ASEAN a huge boost as the Southeast Asian grouping has a low profile outside of the region. Both ASEAN and Malaysia received more attention after US President Trump landed in Kuala Lumpur and spontaneously danced on the red carpet at the tarmac, where musicians and dancers welcomed him under a sweltering sky. His jig went viral on social media platforms, garnering millions of views along with the name “ASEAN” and “Malaysia.
A red carpet dance (Daniel Torok/White House Photo)
The top billing of the summit was an enhanced ceasefire deal inked by Thai and Cambodian leaders on 27 October. Trump and Anwar signed as witnesses. Malaysia had brokered the ceasefire while United States acted as the facilitator. In July, clashes had erupted at the Thai-Cambodian border, leaving scores of people dead. The origins of the dispute go back more than a century, to when the 817-kilometer border between the two countries was decided largely by France, the main regional colonial power.
The ASEAN summit also saw Timor Leste’s entry into the grouping as its 11th member after a 14-year wait. The tiny country of 1.4 million, where some 42% of the population lives below the national poverty line, hopes to benefit from integrating its economy with the regional bloc.
Anwar earned plaudits for the successful, high-profile summitry, which left him beaming from ear to ear.
So far so good.
As the last visitors left, brickbats started to be thrown at Anwar and his cabinet, accusing them of selling the country’s sovereignty by signing a trade deal with United States.
Deals with Malaysia and Cambodia have drawn criticism for so-called “poison pill” clauses that have been characterised as a loyalty test for aligning with US interests.
During the summit, the United States signed reciprocal trade deals with Malaysia, Cambodia and also Thailand.
The deal will see the United States maintain a tariff rate of 19% on exports for Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand, with the levy to be reduced to zero for some goods, according to joint statements released by the White House.
But the deals with Malaysia and Cambodia have drawn criticism for so-called “poison pill” clauses that have been characterised as a loyalty test for aligning with US interests.
The most strident voice came from former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday who called for Anwar and his cabinet to resign over the trade deal, claiming that it not only violates the Malaysian constitution but also jeopardises the rights and sovereignty of the nation, including the position of the Malay rulers.
According to Mahathir, the agreement is one-sided and causes Malaysia to lose a large part of its freedom to determine its own policies and decisions:
“The agreement actually eradicates the nation’s independence and freedom. We are forced to buy US$150 billion (RM 629 billion) worth of goods from the US, including 30 Boeing aircraft and US$3 billion (RM12.6 billion) worth of gas annually.
There are many forms of compulsion against us. Even for making agreements with other countries, we must first refer to America.”
Anwar and his senior ministers have since mounted a robust rebuttal to opposition and NGO accusations about the character of the deal with the United States, taking pains to explain the terms of the agreement and the implications for not striking a deal. Anwar told parliament last week that the trade agreement contains an exit clause that legally allows Malaysia to terminate or withdraw from the deal, and the matter had been scrutinised by the cabinet.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz explained that some 1.1 million workers from more than 7,700 Malaysian firms exporting to the United States could have had their jobs jeopardised if Malaysia did not engage with the Trump administration on tariff talks. In a written parliamentary reply, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia’s trade with the US grew 15.4% to RM271 billion (US$65 billion) between January and September, compared to the same period in 2024.
US ambassador to Malaysia Edgard Kagan weighed in on the debate, saying that the trade deal was not a “surrender of sovereignty” but a recognition that “we’re moving into a new phase in the relationship.”
On Thursday, the opposition Islamist Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), which has 43 seats in the 222-seat Parliament, the biggest bloc for a single party, mulled taking legal action, including filing a judicial review or staging a protest against Anwar in response to the trade deal.
For now, Anwar’s position is safe as the calls for his resignation are not gaining much traction. Having rebutted the opposition’s argument that there is no loss of sovereignty and that it benefits the country, Anwar and his administration must now work to show the tangible results of the trade deal for Malaysia.
If not, the agreement will be used by his detractors to undermine his leadership and the government, which has long struggled to increase the support from the country’s Malay-majority.
The article was published in the lowyinstitute
