On his path to power, Anwar Ibrahim spent nearly ten years in jail on politicised(政治化的) corruption and sodomy(鸡奸（法律术语）) charges. Now the man who has been prime minister since November 2022 is experiencing confinement(限制；禁闭) of another kind. Over three years into the job that he covet(渴望；觊觎)ed for so long, the walls are closing in(四面楚歌；围困感) on the veteran(老手；经验丰富者) of Malaysian politics.
在通往权力的道路上，安瓦尔·易卜拉欣因政治化的腐败和鸡奸指控在狱中度过了近十年。如今，这位自2022年11月起担任总理的人正经历另一种束缚。在他觊觎已久的职位上干了三年多后，这位马来西亚政坛老将正面临四面楚歌的境地。
Mr Anwar leads a coalition with a supermajority(绝对多数) in parliament, but his partners are eyeing the exits. Two upcoming state elections look likely to bring down his government if the results do not go his way. The voting in Johor, a southern data-centre powerhouse, and Negeri Sembilan, a smaller state farther up the peninsula, will not affect the make-up(构成；组成) of the federal parliament. But the coalition partners are testing their strength by running against each other in both states.
安瓦尔领导的联盟在议会中拥有绝对多数，但合作伙伴正伺机退出。两场即将举行的州选举看起来很可能在结果不如意时推翻他的政府。位于南部、数据中心产业发达的柔佛州，以及更北的较小州属森美兰州的投票不会影响联邦议会的构成。但联盟伙伴正通过在两个州相互竞争来测试实力。
One of them, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), was long Malaysia’s ruling party before losing power in 2018. Its members have bristled at playing second fiddle to Mr Anwar in his multi-party coalition. Worse, it has meant joining hands with their arch-rival(主要对手；宿敌)s, the majority-Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP), the largest single party in the coalition. UMNO holds itself up as the guardian(守护者；保护者) of Malaysia’s longstanding affirmative action policies showered upon the majority Malay ethnic group, while the DAP argues for more meritocracy(精英制度；任人唯贤).
其中之一是马来民族统一机构（巫统），在2018年失去政权前长期是马来西亚的执政党。其成员对在安瓦尔的多党联盟中扮演配角感到不满。更糟的是，这意味着要与他们的宿敌、以华裔为主的民主行动党（民行党）联手——民行党是联盟中最大的单一政党。巫统自诩为马来西亚长期对多数马来族群施行的肯定性行动政策的守护者，而民行党则主张更多任人唯贤。