At the 2022 Malaysian general election, the PH coalition which the PKR was part of was returned to power again, albeit without a majority, leading it to form a unity government with political rivals.

This triggered the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and a lift on the five-year political ban imposed on Anwar Ibrahim on 14 April 2008.

The party enjoys strong support from urban states such as Selangor, Penang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Johor, as well as the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

[8] This incident and the circumstances in which it happened led to a public outcry in what became known as the Reformasi movement, but it also resulted in the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Anwar on what many believed to be politically motivated charges of sexual misconduct and corruption.

[9] The movement, which began while the country hosted the Commonwealth Games, initially demanded the resignation of Malaysia's then-Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and for the end of alleged corruption and cronyism within the Barisan Nasional-led (BN) government.

For a time, these followers held massive weekend street demonstrations, mostly in Kuala Lumpur but also occasionally in Penang and other cities, for "keadilan" (justice) and against Mahathir.

[13] The launch of KeADILan put to rest months of speculation about whether Wan Azizah and Anwar would merely remain in ADIL, join PAS, or try to stage a coup against UMNO.

However, Wan Azizah was elected as the Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh; the seat formerly held by her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, with a majority of 9,077 votes.

For the first time in Malaysia's history, UMNO, the dominant Malay-based party which had ruled the country for 40 years since independence, received less than half of the total vote of ethnic Malays.

[25] The party fared poorly in the elections and only managed to retain one parliamentary seat, Permatang Pauh which is held by Dr Wan Azizah, despite winning 9% of the popular vote.

In Sarawak state elections, Dominique Ng, a lawyer and activist, won in the Padungan constituency in Kuching, a majority Chinese locale.

The offices of the Menteri Besar of Selangor and the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang were held by KEADILAN elected representatives, Khalid Ibrahim and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, respectively.

On 14 April 2008, Anwar celebrated his official return to the political stage, as his ban from public office expired a decade after he was sacked as deputy prime minister.

One of the main reasons the opposition seized a third of parliamentary seats and five states in the worst ever showing for the BN coalition that has ruled for half a century, was due to him leading at the helm.

[31] Campaigning wrapped up 7 March for general elections that would see gains for Malaysia's opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese and Indians.

[32] Election results showed that the ruling government suffered a setback when it failed to obtain two-thirds majority in parliament, and five out of 12 state legislatures were won by the opposition parties.

[33] Reasons for the setback of the ruling party, which had retained power since the nation declared independence in 1957, were the rising inflation, crime and ethnic tensions.

[36] On 28 August 2008, Anwar, dressed in a dark blue traditional Malay outfit and black "songkok" hat, took the oath at the main chamber of Parliament house in Kuala Lumpur, as MP for Permatang Pauh at 10.03 am before Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

This was achieved through backroom deals popularly known as the Sheraton Move, which saw the withdrawal of BERSATU from the coalition as well as the exit of Azmin Ali along with 10 other PKR MPs.

[46] Azmin Ali, in a later statement, claimed that his action was to protect then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was forced to choose a date for the transition of power during Pakatan Harapan's presidential meeting on 21 February, and that the statutory declaration presented to the Agong was to cement support for Mahathir, not to elect a new prime minister.

[48] On 24 February 2020, PKR held a press conference where its general secretary, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, announced that Azmin and vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin had been sacked by the party.

[50] Azmin later announced that he would be forming an independent bloc in parliament along with Zuraida and nine other Azmin-aligned PKR MPs who left the party following his expulsion.

[60][61] On the same day, Chong Fat Full, the Azmin-aligned MLA of Pemanis in Johor, announced his resignation from the party to become a Perikatan-aligned independent.

[62] The collapse of Harapan governments at the state level continued on 12 May in Kedah when two Azmin-aligned MLAs, Robert Ling Kui Ee of Sidam and Azman Nasrudin of Lunas, left the party to become Perikatan-aligned independents.

[63] Along with four of six BERSATU MLAs defecting, their withdrawal to Perikatan gave the coalition a 23-13 majority and allowed Kedah state opposition leader, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, to announce the formation of a new government with PAS at the helm, taking over from the previous BERSATU Chief Minister, Mukhriz Mahathir, who was aligned to Pakatan Harapan.

[64][65] Another departure followed on 17 May as Srikandi Keadilan Chief, Nurainie Haziqah Shafii, left the party claiming to have "lost confidence in the struggle and the direction of PKR".

[75] Salleh Said Keruak, a prominent politician from UMNO, cancelled his application to join PKR on 30 June citing the party's internal turmoil.

[79] This was followed Jempol division chief, Karip Mohd Salleh, who left the party with 25 other members for Perikatan Nasional on 15 July.

[84] A supporter of liberal democracy,[85] PKR's constitution has as one of their core principles,[86] the establishment of "a society that is just and a nation that is democratic, progressive and united".