Malaysia’s prime minister has told parliament that a suspect in an alleged plot to topple the government hired an international public relations firm to launch a coordinated campaign aimed at undermining national institutions ahead of the next election.
Police said last week they were investigating an alleged conspiracy to “sabotage national stability” under laws against undermining parliamentary democracy. Addressing parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim provided further details of the alleged plot, saying the suspect had engaged the PR firm as part of a response to being the subject of a large-scale corruption investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Neither Anwar nor the police have identified the individual suspect or the PR firm.
Anwar said the PR strategy, which began in August 2024 and included engaging media agencies, banks and lawmakers, was planned to run until the next general election, due by early 2028.
“Their strategy… was to contact all foreign media with a strategy of undermining the government’s efforts, especially the MACC’s,” Anwar told parliament, citing documents obtained by authorities.
“And then to use their power and contacts in foreign countries to shape a narrative questioning the authority of the Malaysian government and organise a movement through the Malaysian parliament. That is what worries us.”
Anwar said documents identified media firm Bloomberg as one of the agencies targeted by the alleged conspiracy. A Bloomberg spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Anwar’s remarks.
A special government committee is separately investigating allegations in a Bloomberg report last month that the head of the MACC, Azam Baki, may have breached shareholding laws. Azam has said he is willing to be investigated as he had “nothing to hide” and that all his financial declarations were made in accordance with public service laws.
Lawmakers, including a key party in Anwar’s ruling coalition, have called for a royal inquiry into a separate Bloomberg article alleging broader misconduct at the anti-corruption agency. The MACC has said the allegations were “baseless” and that they constituted an attempt to discredit its investigations and enforcement actions within the corporate sector.
On Tuesday, Anwar said a royal inquiry into the matter was “premature” as the special committee was expected to complete its probe within the week.
Critics of the Anwar government have questioned the timing of the police investigation, and the person accused of being behind the alleged conspiracy has dismissed the allegations as a tactic to divert scrutiny away from the MACC, which faces mounting public pressure following the Bloomberg report.
The accused also pointed out that Anwar himself had previously attempted to unseat the Najib administration by encouraging Barisan Nasional MPs to defect, a plan that did not materialise.
A separate report has implicated Anwar’s own family, alleging they worked with a US-based public relations company on a campaign to pressure the Najib government during a period when Anwar was imprisoned on charges he maintained were politically motivated. The report cited private email exchanges between a family member and a company executive, which were allegedly verified by a senior leader from Anwar’s party, PKR. The claim could not be independently verified.
When asked to address this matter in parliament, Anwar declined to be drawn into a direct response, saying that parliament “should not be a battleground for partisan politics.” He urged MPs across party lines to unite in the face of what he described as a foreign threat.
“Please read the report. This is not a personal thing… if you look at the report there was contact with an aide of a minister from a foreign country,” he said.
“This plan aims to discredit our entire system. This isn’t just about protecting one’s reputation. This is clearly a plan to overthrow the government because the timeline suggests the campaign will continue until the next general election.”
Leaked documents linked to the purported conspiracy have circulated online since the allegations first emerged. The papers are said to outline a communications strategy that, among other things, sought to rehabilitate the reputation of a late senior minister who, despite facing corruption allegations, was never formally charged.
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