Lowdown on Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean

WHEN Laos handed the chairmanship of Asean and its related summits to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Oct 14, 2024, Malaysia was certain that it could accept the proverbial baton and carry the race of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) forward. Anwar has seen Malaysia hosting the Asean chairmanship in 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015. He was absent from the Asean Summit in 2015, however, and was not even sure if he could be the PM of Malaysia after 2005, and for that matter 2015.

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