# Mahathir sacks Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister

Date: 1998

## The fact

On 2 September 1998 a Prime Minister’s Department statement removed [Anwar Ibrahim](/people/anwar-ibrahim) as deputy prime minister and finance minister, effective 5.30 pm, one day after capital controls. He did not write the letter. Later ISA detention is a child.

## Context

Mahathir authored the removal after AFC policy conflict. Bank Negara’s governor had already resigned. Anwar had refused to resign. He did not sit as the King.

ISA 20 September is the child civic file. The 1991 finance appointment is the parent portfolio.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia advises the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, chairs Cabinet, and is appointed under Articles 40 and 43 of the Federal Constitution. He does not write Bank Negara Malaysia policy rates, does not sit as every state menteri besar, and does not author a United States or China statute. A 1999–2018 prosecution or pardon cluster is not a 2023 subsidy. Allegation is not a completed personal conviction unless a court so held. A 2027 general election is not this page’s completed Fact. As of 27 August 2026 he remains prime minister.

## Evidence and sources

Prime Minister's Department Malaysia carries the official instrument or communique. BBC records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is [democratic resilience](/drivers/democratic-resilience) and political polarisation: a completed heir-apparent sacking opened Reformasi.

## What is established and what is not

Established: 2 September 1998 removal from DPM and Finance, independently reported.

Not established: that every later court file was thereby uniquely ordered that evening, or a unique later GDP coefficient from 5.30 pm.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

The PMD issued it. Anwar was the removed official. UMNO expelled him the next day.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Mahathir sacks Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister, not a later speech about Mahathir sacks Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Mahathir sacks Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister on 1998-09-02 is not a licence to treat every later Prime Minister's Department Malaysia communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Mahathir sacks Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to Mahathir signed the removal. The PMD issued it. Anwar was the removed official. UMNO expelled him the next day. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Anwar Ibrahim: https://factrail.ai/people/anwar-ibrahim

## Drivers

- Political Polarization: https://factrail.ai/drivers/political-polarization
- Democratic Resilience: https://factrail.ai/drivers/democratic-resilience

## Sources

- https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/163200.stm
- https://www.pmo.gov.my/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/my-anwar-sacked-1998