Malaysia Finds Champion for ‘Invisible’ Women in Deputy Premier
- Wan Aziah wants to improve finances of women who work at home
- Dark moment came as her opposition leader husband was jailed
This article is for subscribers only.
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Malaysia’s new deputy prime minister, said one of the darkest moments of her life came in 2015 when her husband Anwar Ibrahim, the former opposition leader, was sent to jail for a second time.
In hindsight, she ended up appreciating the moment in one sense as it pushed her back into politics in an effort to free him. Today, Anwar is out of jail and considered a possible prime minister, while she has become the first woman to serve as second-in-command in Malaysia’s government. Wan Azizah has also taken up another cause: Improving the lives of women who haven’t worked outside the home.