FORMER Senator Yusmadi Yusoff has initiated an online signature campaign to seek the attention of the Nobel Peace Prize committee to award its prestigious peace prize to ASEAN chair and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
His motivation stems from the immediate ceasefire reached last week between Thailand and Cambodia in a deal brokered by Anwar with support from the United States (US).
Anwar hosted the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand for truce talks in Kuala Lumpur on with observers from the US and China.
The two Southeast Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire in their fight over competing border claims.
Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN which has 11 members with Timor Leste expected to be sworn in later this year during the fourth quarter leadership summit, where US President Donald J. Trump, is also scheduled to attend.
Since its launch last Friday, the signature campaign through https://chng.it/KYXbFjbggm, has racked up over 1,100 signatures.
The nomination is grounded in the belief that both Anwar and ASEAN represent a unique and principled commitment to dialogue, regional harmony, and global peace through non-coercive diplomacy and inclusive leadership.
Among those lending support to the petition are Professor Emeritus Datuk Osman Bakar, a rector of the International Islamic University Malaysia, Singapore's distinguished architect Prof Tay Kheng Soon and political cartoonist Zunar aka Zulkiflee Anwar Haque. - August 4, 2025
