Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, has stepped back from the deputy presidency of his ruling People’s Justice Party (PKR), raising questions over his ability to hold together the political movement he built after a bruising run of electoral setbacks and defections by former allies.

PKR’s leadership has sought to frame the move by Nurul Izzah, one of the party’s most recognisable reformist figures, not as a resignation but as a temporary break – exposing fresh strains within the party.

It is another blow to Anwar after disappointing losses by his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to its federal partner, Barisan Nasional (BN), in Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections. PH and BN remain partners in the federal unity government but have spent the past month locked in heated contests against each other in the two state polls.

The recurring departure or sidelining of senior figures suggests PKR under Anwar has yet to resolve how to accommodate strong personalities – such as Nurul Izzah as well as recent defectors Azmin Ali and Rafizi Ramli, said Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, vice-president of political consultancy The Asia Group.

“When the same pattern repeats itself, the question becomes whether this is less a succession problem and increasingly an Anwar problem.”

The focus should not be who would succeed Anwar next, but whether PKR could develop and retain credible leaders around him without those relationships eventually becoming adversarial, he said.