Ibrahim continues his struggle

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Soon after he was released from jail in September, former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said the first country he would visit would be Indonesia.

Anwar told an Indonesian TV station that, in following political developments in Indonesia from behind bars, he marveled at how such a rapid change could transpire.

After joking about his longing for Sundanese food, Anwar said his true intention for visiting Indonesia was to pay homage and take lessons from reform movement leaders who had helped usher in sweeping political changes.

Although Indonesia was actually the third country he visited after South Africa and Germany, where he received treatment for a debilitating back injury, Anwar made good on his vow to meet the leaders, some of whom were friends.

Accompanied by his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and leaders of the Justice Party, a political party she founded to protest the harsh treatment of her husband and push his reformist agenda, Anwar arrived here on Monday for a five-day visit.

At a dinner held to welcome him, Anwar, who is now in good shape and no longer wheelchair-bound, said he would use the visit as an opportunity to learn as much as possible from the Indonesian experience, especially in democracy, freedom, law enforcement and building civil society.

Despite its myriad problems, Anwar said Indonesian democracy was far better than that of Malaysia.

"At least Indonesia is more democratic than Malaysia. Malaysians should learn how, in such a short period, Indonesia was able to develop its democracy," he told local media.

Apart from his usual criticism of the corruption and cronyism rampant in Malaysia, Anwar lashed out at his nation's lack of political and press freedom, comparing it to Indonesia's dark days under Soeharto.

It is such rallying calls for Malaysian reform that landed Anwar in jail and cost him his political career.

Once a prodigal son dubbed as the future successor of former prime minister Mahathir Muhammad, his political career is now in limbo, as Malaysian law stipulates that convicted criminals cannot hold public office for five years after their release.

Anwar was convicted of corruption along with sodomy charges -- sentences for which he served concurrently. Having been released just last April, he will not be able to return to parliament or assume formal leadership of any party until April 2008.

Anwar's repeated claims -- that the corruption and sexual misconduct charges were trumped up by Mahathir to derail his political career -- ring true now, more than ever.

His imprisonment was the climax of a power struggle between Anwar and Mahathir that had been going on for several years, and which intensified as the economic crisis worsened. Anwar increasingly took a pro-free market approach, open to foreign investment and trade liberalization, while Mahathir advocated currency control and blamed the West and Western currency speculators for Malaysia's economic woes.

In the end, Mahathir's policy prevailed and saved the country from plunging deeper into crisis.

By mid-1998, by borrowing the reform slogan from Indonesia, Anwar and his supporters within the ruling party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), raised corruption and nepotism as major political issues, with Mahathir and his associates their unstated target.

However, the move only resulted in an intensified attack against Anwar.

In May, 50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM (50 reasons why Anwar should not become prime minister), a book containing detailed sexual allegations as well as accusations of corruption against Anwar, was published in Kuala Lumpur.

In early June, the book was circulated at the annual UMNO meeting, just as Mahathir began strengthening his control over the party and moving against Anwar.

Preceded by the arrest and litigation against his allies in UMNO, Anwar was sacked on Sept. 2 as deputy prime minister and finance minister. One day later, he was expelled from UMNO.

Anwar was arrested at his home in late September amid protests from some 35,000 supporters who demanded Mahathir's resignation, and stood trial on charges of corruption and "unnatural sex".

During his detention, Anwar allegedly received harsh treatment that resulted in his back injury and the much-photographed black eye, which was later used as the symbol of his wife's Justice Party.

The cases brought against Anwar, however, were flawed from their the inception. The alleged victim of the sodomy, his driver, could not make up his mind about when the misconduct occurred. At one point, the driver even claimed it had taken place in a building that did not even exist at the time of the alleged crime.

The lower courts did not allow Anwar to present an alibi or to pursue the argument that the charges had been drummed up to keep him out of politics.

Six years later, the Malaysian economy has recovered and Mahathir is retired, having left the post he held for decades last October. Meanwhile, Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Badawi, has pledged to implement various reforms -- the very same ones Anwar had been calling for from his cell.

With such substantial changes in the Malaysian political scene, Anwar may have to rethink his role in politics in the years to come.

In an interview with the Associated Press soon after he returned a spinal operation in Germany, Anwar remained noncommittal about any ambitions to become Malaysian prime minister.

"That's a long way to go and it's a long time. As a British prime minister once said, 'a week is a long time in politics'," he said.