POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Prodigal Son Returns to his Power Base

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia, Nov 9 2004 (IPS) - Anwar Ibrahim, the prodigal son of Malaysian politics, has this advice to opposition leaders who campaigned for his release from jail: ”Move with the times to ensure your political survival.”

Over the weekend Anwar held his first meeting, since his recent release from a six-year imprisonment, with the senior leadership of the opposition People’s Justice Party – which his wife Azizah Ismail founded more than five years ago to fight for his freedom.

And his call could find resonance with the Justice Party.

Last March the party did so badly at the general elections that it lost four of the five parliamentary seats it held. The solitary seat it has, now, in Parliament is held by Azizah.

So is Anwar advising the opposition to move beyond confrontational politics – which have failed to garner votes – to a more reconciliatory approach with new Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi?

In any case, his recent interview with the ‘Malaysia Today’ web magazine could bear some semblance to reconciliation.

”Prime Minister Abdullah has proven to be more conciliatory in his style, compared to the worst the country has ever had in the combative, hard, hectoring (era) of (former prime minister) Mahathir. People see Abdullah as a sigh of relief,” he said.

And that message was repeated when Abdullah paid his first visit to Penang in more than six years last Friday to see whether his grip on his traditional power base was still strong after being freed from prison.

He struck a conciliatory note with Abdullah saying: ”Whatever action that the prime minister takes for the benefit of the people, we will support,” he said. ”But it must be remembered corruption cannot be ended just by talk. It can only be wiped out if action is taken against the most corrupt.”

Anwar was referring to Malaysia’s slipping from its 37th to 39th place in this year’s ‘Corruption Perceptions’ ranking by the global watchdog, Transparency International. The slide had occurred despite Abdullah’s yearlong anti-graft campaign, which appears to have faltered.

But Anwar’s support for Abdullah in the fight against corruption, especially amidst talk that the premier faces stiff resistance within his ruling United Malays National organisation (UMNO), will be closely watched.

On Sep. 2, Malaysia’s Federal Court quashed a sodomy conviction against Anwar and freed him from almost six years in jail. But it denied a request to re-hear his appeal against his final charge of corruption.

The former deputy premier said both convictions were trumped up by his former boss, then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, to ruin his political career.

As a convicted felon, Anwar, 57, is barred by election laws from contesting or holding political office for five years from date of release or until Apr.14, 2008 but he can be a political adviser, organiser, inspirer and mover.

In Penang, he promptly launched a stirring attack on corruption – five days after returning home from Germany where he sought medical treatment for spinal injuries made worse during a beating he endured in jail.

”Some cynics ask, ‘Which country in the world hasn’t got corruption; it is a way of life.’ I say, we have to change that!” he said to thunderous applause from the crowd that gathered to meet him.

In scenes reminiscent of the groundswell clamour for reforms in 1998-2001 during the tenure of the autocratic Mahathir, cries of ”reformasi!” erupted in the air while supporters and jostling photographers mobbed Anwar.

Hundreds spilled out of the packed Chinese Town Hall despite the lack of publicity for the event and the fact it was held in the afternoon during working hours.

In a sign of how wary the authorities are of Anwar’s ability to mobilise the masses, police set up at least five checkpoints along major routes leading into the city just before the scheduled start of the gathering, worsening traffic congestion and delaying those heading for the venue.

But the suffocating repression of the Mahathir era appeared to have eased, if only a little, with the absence of riot police trucks near the venue – though plainclothes police and Special Branch officers were out in numbers.

In a rare sign of unity, almost equal numbers of ethnic Malays and Chinese, with Indians making up the rest, filled the hall. ”It is good to see the people coming together like this,” said an activist campaigning against the controversial Penang Outer Ring Road project (PORR), which critics say would lead to more traffic on the island.

Anwar highlighted the plight of petty traders and hawkers who he claimed had to pay bribes to enforcement officials.

Complaining that little had been done for the petty traders whom he had visited in Kuala Lumpur, he said the cost of upgrading facilities for them would have been miniscule, just a few hundreds of thousands of ringgit. ”Even the fencing at Putrajaya costs more than that!” he said, referring to the country’s new lavish administrative capital.

He slammed mega projects, in a veiled attack against the previous Mahathir administration, though he did not mention names. ”Nothing was done for eight years for the small traders, but during that time we spent tens of billions of ringgit on mega projects, building the longest, the tallest and the greatest,” he said in a reference to the Mahathir administration’s penchant for world records in obscure categories.

Anwar urged the Penang government to speed up projects that would benefit the people.

”If there are projects that do not benefit the people, like PORR, consult the people and if they don’t want them, just defer or amend them; why ram them down their throats? And why the insistence on specific contractors?” he asked. ”I don’t understand this.”

He also referred to talk of building an expensive second bridge (linking Penang island to the mainland). ”If basic needs such as water, electricity, facilities for small traders have not yet been met, don’t think of mega projects,” he urged. ”Settle the people’s problems first.”

”I don’t oppose big projects, but our priorities should be schools, healthcare facilities and public amenities."

But the current rumour in political circles is that the former deputy prime minister is keeping his options open with the ruling UMNO, with a view of rejoining it after his court ban on politics is lifted.

Anwar, however, sought to allay these fears.

”I was astonished at the number of people who would come up to me and after greeting me (in the usual way), would then whisper, ‘Don’t rejoin UMNO,’ ” he revealed, as the crowd roared with laughter.

”Even before I could say anything, they (the UMNO people) were angry with me and said, ‘You cannot enter UMNO!’ ” ”Enter what?” Anwar mocked, to loud applause. ”Who wants to enter UMNO?”