Anwar free, but fettered politically

Anwar free, but fettered politically

Mark Bendeich, Reuters, Putrajaya, Malaysia

Once the young lion of Malaysian politics, jailed former deputy
premier Anwar Ibrahim left court a free man on Thursday and
promptly resumed a call for government reform -- but without his
usual roar.

Sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace due to a back
injury, Anwar presented a contrast from the days in 1998 when he
took the fateful step of challenging veteran leader Mahathir
Mohamad and leading anti-government street protests.

This time Anwar had praise for the current prime minister and
hailed what he called Thursday's independent judicial decision to
quash his "trumped-up" conviction for sodomy.

"I must point out that his predecessor (Mahathir) would not
have done the change and reform. I have to give credit to the
prime minister for not interfering with the judiciary," he told
reporters in the packed courtroom after the watershed ruling.

The ruling came on the sixth anniversary of Anwar's sacking at
the hands of Mahathir and could prove a defining moment for
Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who in a moment has
emerged as the healer of one of Malaysia's worst political sores.

But Anwar, who Mahathir had once annointed his political heir,
is barred from politics until 2008, due to an earlier conviction
on corruption. He served out that sentence last year and now
wants to go Germany for a back operation.

Only a few months ago, Anwar told Reuters that it served
Abdullah to keep him locked up.

Anwar's sacking and arrest in September 1998 united a
disparate opposition, posing one of the biggest challenges to
then prime minister Mahathir and sparking a "Reformasi" movement
calling for an end to corruption and cronyism.

But in recent elections, the 57-year-old Anwar saw his support
base eroded as Abdullah himself pledged to fight corruption and
to make government more transparent. Abdullah, campaigning on a
platform to clean up corruption, led his ruling coalition to a
landslide election victory in March.

The pro-Anwar's Parti Keadilan (Justice Party), which sprang
out of his reformasi movement for the 1999 elections, lost all
but one of its five parliamentary seats in the March polls.

Anwar was sentenced to a total of 15 years in jail for abuse
of power and sodomy -- charges he said were fabricated by
Mahathir's government to prevent him challenging the ex-premier.

Anwar was first jailed for six years in April 1999 for abuse
of power. With two years off for good behaviour, that sentence
ended in 2003. He was serving out the nine years he received in
2000 for sodomy when Thursday's ruling set him free.

Anwar denied all the charges, saying he was framed by Mahathir
and associates to ensure he would never succeed his former mentor
and expose corruption and cronyism.

Mahathir denies the accusations, saying he sacked Anwar
because he was morally unfit to rule.

Following Anwar's ouster, thousands of his mostly Malay
supporters took to the streets, demanding that Mahathir step
down.

Anwar was dumped in the midst of Asia's financial crisis,
which opened up a rift between Anwar and a business elite close
to Mahathir. Tensions that arose as a decade-long economic boom
came to an end highlighted the two leaders' different styles.

Suave and articulate, Anwar rubbed shoulders with
international financiers and was eventually equated with the
economic orthodoxy that the acerbic Mahathir said mortgaged
Malaysia's future to foreign interests.

Anwar's initial prescription -- tight money and budget
surpluses -- met recommendations from the International Monetary
Fund but exacerbated Malaysia's first slowdown in 13 years.

The downfall of Indonesian President Suharto in May 1998
emboldened Anwar's supporters, and his speeches were seen as a
threat to Mahathir, who retired last year after 22 years in
power.

Born on Aug. 10, 1947, Anwar went to the Malay College in the
royal town of Kuala Kangsar, one of Malaysia's top schools, and
made his name as a firebrand Islamic youth leader.

He was jailed for 20 months under the Internal Security Act
beginning in 1974 for leading anti-government demonstrations
against impoverished conditions in the north.

Mahathir invited him to join UMNO in 1982 and Anwar began a
meteoric rise. He held a string of senior cabinet posts,
including the ministries of agriculture and education, and had
been finance minister since 1991 before being sacked.

Anwar is married to former eye doctor Wan Azizah Wan Ismail,
who now leads the opposition Parti Keadilan Nasional. The couple
have six children, five girls and a boy.