The Home Ministry and the top had been the subject of intense advocacy, according to political operatives in Mr. Anwar’s inner group.
According to labor activists, the big question now facing the government is whether Bestinet may accept the proposed three-year extension or whether it will change to its politically prominent supporters to stifle Mr. Anwar’s management and further undermine its economic reforms.
The new payment methods and Bestinet’s request to give up the Sharp code were not discussed by government officials.  ,
According to some labor activists, the move may be intended to address Malaysia’s pressing labor-related issues, which include the selection of Bangladeshis, one of its major sources of foreign labor.  ,
In a complicated hiring process that also requires forcing employers to pay hidden fees for each worker, the official fee for a single Bangladeshi recruit is roughly RM4, 500 ( US$ 955 ), but in reality each migrant worker pays nearly four times that much in the form of a cast of players.
MESSY Elections
Prior to his election as premier in November 2022, Mr. Anwar and his coalition partners in the Pakatan Harapan ( PH) alliance had been very critical of Bestinet’s strict migrant labor quota, which the previous government, led by now-detained former prime minister Najib Razak, had granted.  ,
However, Mr. Anwar’s struggle to pass measures has been hampered by Malaysia’s stale elections.
To form a unity government and become premier, Mr. Anwar was forced to forge a coalition with the United Malays National Organization ( UMNO ) and other unlikely political ally.  ,
The 222-member parliament has a strong majority, but the decision alliance, led by PH and other local parties in Sabah and Sarawak, still has strong ties between the various parties, which frequently makes compromises that override the reform agenda.
” The country is being held hostage by the players in the foreign labour recruitment system and unless the government gets tough, ( Mr Anwar’s ) reforms will go nowhere”, said Mr Santiago.
Mr. Santiago noted that Malaysia’s reliance on foreign labor and groups of illegal immigrants who cross its porous borders with the aid of human trafficking syndicates have contributed to other economic distortions.  ,  ,
For one, the large number of affordable international workers has made it possible for the private sector to keep wages low, which has hurt some regular Malay in the lower income groups.
” Most ordinary Malaysians are fundamentally concerned about putting food on the table, and the state has a social trouble.” The only way is to deal with the migrant workers issue decisively”, said Mr Santiago.