Nik Aziz Agrees To Meet Muslim Leaders

KOTA BAHARU, June 16 (Bernama) -- PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has agreed to meet other Muslim leaders to discuss problems affecting Muslims and the Malays.

"We (PAS) had asked for such a meeting a long time ago but Umno was not interested. Talk of such a meeting surfaced after the opposition won five states in the (March 8) general election," he told reporters after laying the foundation stone for the Maahad Muhammadi religious school hostel and launching of the Tabung Haji Club here Monday.

Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin recently proposed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz meet to discuss problems facing Muslims in the country.

Dr Mohd Asri said the meeting was necessary as Muslims were confused and worried by what was happening in the country.

He, however, asked that the meeting be held on the premise of honesty and without taking party interests into account.

The Kelantan Menteri Besar said such a meeting was timely as any delay would worsen the situation.

He also donated RM3,000 to the Maahad Muhammadi school.

-- BERNAMA

Dr Mahathirs racist remarks draw flak

By : M. Husairy Othman, Ridzwan Abdullah and Eileen Ng

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malays have every reason to fight for their rights, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as non-Bumiputera groups again lamented over the former prime minister's apparently racist line.

He claimed Malaysia was the only nation in the world where the main ethnic group had admitted other races and endowed them with rights.

"We (the Malays) are not the type to protest and have accepted those who came to the country.

"We even accorded them rights unlike other countries," he said at a talk titled "The Future of Malaysian Malays" organised by Warisan Pekembar, a non-governmental organisation, in Teluk Intan on Saturday.

Some 2,000 people attended the hour-long event.
In an immediate response, Gerakan secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said national unity was crucial to meeting the challenges of the present day.

"It's time we thought like Malaysians and as Bangsa Malaysia to work together to forge a united country and face future challenges as one.

"Global challenges like the fuel and food crisis are best tackled and handled together. In light of these challenges, it is inappropriate to start questioning each other's contributions and rights.

"It is more important to treat everyone as Malaysians, regardless of race, in order to contribute effectively to the country's development."

Dr Mahathir expressed sadness at being termed a racist each time he spoke on the rights of the Malays.

"When they speak of their rights, people say it is all right as we live in a multiracial country.

"I am extremely sad but we have every right to speak in defence of the Malays," he said.

Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Datuk Kenneth Eswaran said the special rights of the Malays had never been questioned, at least in Barisan Nasional.

"There is no basis whatsoever to Dr Mahathir's claims. The Indian community, at least those in BN, has never questioned the economic rights of the Malays.

"Dr Mahathir should know this better as he was part of the system at one time," he said.

The former prime minister also demolished the notion of a Bangsa Malaysia, which he had proposed.

"We have failed to create a Malaysian race and must accept the fact that we are made up of different races and religions.

"Malaysia is not like other countries. We have come up with policies to help the Malays without sidelining the interests of other races.

"The New Economic Policy was designed not to deny others of their rights but to improve the economic status of the Malays."

He said peace and harmony in the country could only be achieved when the economic divide between the races was narrowed.

"If the gap is too big, it might lead to dissatisfaction by certain groups and to untoward incidents like the May 13 riots in 1969."

MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said: "Now is not the time to distinguish between Malays and non-Malays.

"We are first and foremost Malaysians and we (MCA) articulate our views as Malaysians.

"As MCA leaders, we are responsible for everyone and are constantly aware of the sensitivities of Malaysians and the multiracial context we live in," he said.

Openness

After I stepped down there was a lot of talk about the Malaysian Government being more open. The foreign press gleefully reported that after I left UMNO, there would be even greater freedom in everything.

I would not be able to make a comparison between my “dictatorial regime” which a certain former judge described in his book as comparable to that of Idi Amin of Uganda with the present freely elected Government. But I would like to point out certain things that people and journalists seem to ignore, which seems to belie the impression of “openness”.

If people care to study the mainstream papers and all the Malaysian television stations, they may notice that until lately the reports were exclusively about the Government’s achievements in managing the economy, the stability of the country and the well-being of the people. The Gross Domestic Product Growth is high and all the different communities seem very happy with the Government.

At least four pages in the mainstream newspapers are devoted to the activities of the Prime Minister and his advice to the people on what they should do and how they should live. It is the same with the television stations.

Random interviews with members of the public show unfailing support and appreciation of all the policies of the Government and of the Prime Minister.

There are no reports of dissent or criticisms of the Government or the Prime Minister in particular. The spontaneous welcome of the people to his visits clearly showed the general love for the leader and support for him. The eagerness to shake his hand was touching.

Criticism if any came only from the alternative media, the Internet websites and the bloggers. This is only to be expected in an open society.

Then came a bombshell in the form of the disastrous General Election. The "popular" Government parties fared very badly indeed, losing five states, one federal territory and failing to get the usual two-thirds majority in the Federal Parliament.

How could a Government with such openness and popularity do so badly, be so obviously rejected by the people?

The answer is very strange. It is because there is really no openness. The policy of the Government was and is to shut things up very tightly, so tightly that people, especially the liberal western media failed to detect the lack of openness.

It began with the sacking of many of the editorial staff of the party-owned newspapers and their replacement with hand-picked journalists whose main qualification is their hatred of the previous Prime Minister.

Then there is the unofficial "supremo" who would phone editors, including those not owned by Government parties to tell them what to write and how to write.

The spin doctors would be busy spinning every report to make them look good for the Government.

It is the same with the electronic media. All the television stations are either owned by the Government or those close to the Government and understandably chose not to criticise the Government.

UMNO members at all levels were not allowed to be critical of the Government.

Mostly only those supportive of the Prime Minister would be allowed to attend the UMNO General Assembly. If they have to be bribed in order to extol the virtues of the leader then so be it.

A sense of fear has been instilled among UMNO supporters so that they would desist from voicing critical opinions of the Government even between themselves in case they would be reported and might lose something or might be deprived of some goodies.

Any forum that was not by the Government authorities or by the party where criticisms of the Government might be heard were out of bounds to party members. In particular if the speaker was the former Prime Minister UMNO members must stay away from them.

The Government was very successful in blacking out news or talks about its failures. So good was the spin that even the leaders of the Government believed in the doctored information that they had allowed to be circulated.

Everything seemed to go the Government way. Everything seemed under control. Such was the impression created by the censored news that Government leaders in particular the Prime Minister were convinced that in any election, at any time with any candidates the Government party would sweep clean and would romp to victory as in 2004.

But the results proved otherwise. Having muzzled the Press and the people, having doctored all information, the Government leaders fell into their own trap. They so believed in their doctored information that they failed completely to detect disaffection and the antagonism of the people including their traditional supporters over their lack of openness and the behaviour as well as the policies of the Government.

And so, unable to express their opposition openly, the traditional supporters of the Government parties voted for the opposition or deliberately spoilt their voting slips or simply refused to vote. The results of the March 2008 elections tell the whole story.

There is really no openness just as there is no transparency in this Government. You can deceive all of the people some of the time, some of the people all the time but you cannot deceive all the people all the time.

by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
http://www.chedet.com

Hadiah untuk Sabah

Subky Abdul Latif

Perdana Menteri yang berkunjung ke Sabah dua hari hujung Mei menganugerahkan 13 inisiatif yang dianggap sebahagian hadiah untuk Sabah dan penduduknya.

Saya tidak berhajat untuk memperincikan 13 perkara itu yang diberi dengan tiba-tiba.

Apakah yang diberi itu sudah memadai untuk Sabah atau ia suatu yang lebih dari sepatutnya atau tidak memadai?

Apakah yang diberi oleh Perdana Menteri itu adalah suatu yang menjadi hak untuk Sabah atau ia suatu pemberian istimewa untuknya disebabkan oleh sesuatu keadaan yang perlu dibuat begitu?

Apa pun mengapa baru sekarang sesudah Sabah merdeka melalui Malaysia sejak tahun 1963 hadiah 13 perkara itu diberikan? Mengapa tidak dulu? Mengapa tidak diberi 20 tahun lalu atau sepuluh tahun lalu atau sebelum pilihan raya lalu?

Jika apa yang diberi itu memang hak Sabah dan ia memang patut memperolehinya, mengapa baru sekarang ia diberi? Mengapa selepas pilihan raya umum ke-12 yang keputusannya diketahui semua, maka baru Perdana Menteri pergi ke Sabah mengumumkan perkara itu.

Semua tahu bahawa Sabah memberikan hadiah kepada Barisan Nasional dalam pilihan raya lalu memungkin ia membentuk semula Kerajaan Pusat. Hadiah yang sama diberikan oleh Sarawak.

Jika kedua wilayah itu tidak memberi pakejnya kepada BN, tidak diketahui nasib Perdana Menteri dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Keduanya masih boleh menang mudah dalam pilihan raya itu, tetapi kemenangan itu boleh memberinya nasib yang sama seperti Mahadhir Khalid, Tajol Rosli dan Dr. Khir Toyo di Dewan Undangan Negeri masing-masing.

Sekalipun Sabah dan Sarawak sudah membantu kemenangan BN, tetapi timbul pula gempar MP dari negeri itu menimbang untuk bersama Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim membentuk kerajaan alternatif menggantikan pemimpin kerajaan yang dilihat rapuh sekarang.

Dua orang Sabah yang ditawarkan Timbalan Menteri menolak setelah diumumkan terpaksa digantikan dua orang MP Sabah yang lain. Berikutnya secara tergesa-gesa jawatan Speaker Dewan Rakyat yang sedang ditunggu oleh Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib untuk diberikan semula kepadanya diberikan kepada orang Sabah, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

Ramli Ngah Talib baru saja diinterbiu media tentang kesediaannya jika dipilih semula. Dia menyatakan kesediaan dan dia pun dipercayai mengharapkan dipilih semula. Rasanya dia akan dipilih semula. Tetapi sepulangnya Perdana Menteri dari Sabah, kerusi itu tidak diberi lagi kepadanya, kerana ia dihadiahkan kepada orang Sabah.

Suara dari Sabah terus menyuarakan rasa tidak puas hati bilangan menteri yang diberi kepadanya, sedang mereka menyebut sebuah negeri yang MP-nya tidak sebesar Sabah diberi tujuh menteri. Suara dari Sabah itu benar-benar membimbangkan kerajaan BN, maka kunjungan segera sekali lagi ke Sabah, Perdana Menteri memberi tambahan hadiah lagi.

Tidak dapat dipastikan adakah suara dari Sabah itu satu amaran atau satu peras ugut, tetapi yang dapat dikatakan, hadiah itu belum tentu ditawarkan kiranya tidak gempar yang dibuat oleh Anwar Ibrahim dan tidak suara keras dari beberapa MP Sabah.

Sarawak sudah tentu melihat dengan penuh minat terhadap apa yang diberi kepada Sabah itu. Apakah memadai orang dari negerinya ditawarkan Timbalan Speaker dan ketua Kelab Penyokong Kerajaan di Parlimen?

Apa pun Sarawak tentu mahukan haknya jika apa yang mereka rasa mereka juga patut dapat hadiah belum diberi. Tidaklah patut Sabah diberi hadiah, maka Sarawak dibiarkan ternganga saja. Jika hak itu tidak diberi, maka tidak mustahil ada yang dalam diam-diam mencari Anwar Ibrahim.

Perdana Menteri yang dilihat kepanasan itu akan ke Kuching pula lepas ini untuk membuat hadiah kiranya hadiah belum diberi kepada mereka.

Jika apa yang diberi adalah hak mereka, dan kerana hak itu tidak diberikan selama ini, maka patutlah hak itu diberikan. Dan kalau ia memang hak mereka, apa jadahnya maka ia ditangguhkan selama ini?

Jika demikian benarlah dakwaan, kerajaan BN pimpinan Umno tidak memberikan keadilan kepada semua.

Tetapi kalau keadilan itu sudah dipenuhi, dan semua telah mendapat haknya, maka apa yang hendak dikata kepada pemberian di Sabah itu? Tidakkah pemberian itu dibuat atas peras ugut yang dihadapi?

Saya sekadar hendak menyebutkan satu dari hadiah itu. Jabatan Pembangunan Persekutuan (JPP) yang diwujudkan sejak Sabah ditadbir pembangkang PBS dulu dimansuhkan kerana orang Sabah tidak suka sangat padanya.

Jika jabatan itu dimansuhkan untuk Sabah, maka apa alasan ia mesti dikekalkan di Kelantan. Dan mungkin di lain-lain negeri bukan BN. Ia adalah seperti satu pentadbiran kerajaan dalam kerajaan. Jika ia dibatalkan di Sabah, maka ia juga patut dipanggil pulang dari Kota Bharu. Ia tidak patut ada di mana-mana negeri.

Sabah mungkin boleh berpuas hati, tetapi cara pemberian itu dibuat jelas menunjukkan Kerajaan Pusat sangat tertekan. Belum jelas pemberian itu kerana Sabah patut diberi haknya, tetapi lebih disebabkan takut Sabah hilang dari pengaruh BN.- tajdid _

Rusuhan anti-Bush

ANGGOTA polis antirusuhan menghalang penunjuk perasaan antiperang yang mengadakan demonstrasi di Dataran Parlimen di London, semalam sebagai membantah lawatan Presiden George Bush ke Britain. - AP

LONDON 16 Jun - Penunjuk perasaan bergelut dengan polis pencegah rusuhan di tengah ibu kota ini semalam semasa Presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS), George W. Bush mengadakan rundingan dengan Perdana Menteri Britain, Gordon Brown.

Isu Iran dan Iraq menjadi agenda utama rundingan semasa makan malam di Downing Street itu, sementara kedua-dua pemimpin dijadual mengadakan rundingan lebih rasmi hari ini, sebelum Bush berlepas ke Ireland Utara dan kemudian pulang ke tanah air.

Bush juga akan bersarapan dengan bekas Perdana Menteri, Tony Blair yang merupakan sekutu utama Bush semasa melancarkan perang ke atas Iraq pada 2003.

Sokongan Blair itu telah mencetuskan protes di seluruh dunia dan menyebabkan perbalahan diplomatik berlarutan.

Protes jarang berlaku semasa lawatan Bush ke Eropah sejak seminggu lalu yang telah membawa beliau ke Slovenia, Jerman, Itali, Vatican City dan Perancis.

Bagaimanapun pergelutan meletus selepas penunjuk perasaan cuba merempuh sekatan polis yang menutup Whitehall, jalan utama yang dibarisi pejabat-pejabat kerajaan di tengah London, tempat kedua-dua pemimpin itu bertemu.

Kira-kira 13 orang ditangkap dalam pergelutan itu meskipun situasi kembali tenang sebelum berakhirnya pertemuan di Downing Street malam tadi.

Bush memulakan lawatannya dengan menghadiri majlis minum petang bersama Ratu Elizabeth II di Windsor.

Sebelum ketibaan Bush di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Heathrow di sini, pegawai tinggi kedua-dua negara terpaksa menyangkal laporan akhbar yang mendakwa beliau akan memberi amaran kepada Brown supaya jangan terburu-buru mengundurkan askar Britain dari Iraq.

"Tiada persetujuan antara Presiden Bush dengan Perdana Menteri, Brown mengenai isu ini," kata Penasihat Keselamatan Negara AS, Stephen Hadley.

Menurutnya, rundingan akan tertumpu kepada usaha mengetatkan sekatan ke atas Iran berhubung keengganan negara itu membekukan program nuklearnya.

- AFP

Pemimpin dunia diajak lebih berani atasi krisis

Oleh Abdul Razak Raaff

PERKENAL MAKANAN: Abdullah sambil diperhatikan isteri, Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah menunjukkan kuih tradisi Melayu kepada Pengasas dan Pengerusi Eksekutif Forum Ekonomi Dunia, Prof Klaus Schwab (dua dari kiri) dan bekas Perdana Menteri Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz (tiga dari kiri) ketika majlis meraikan peserta Forum Ekonomi Dunia bagi Asia Timur 2008, di Dataran Perdana, Bangunan Perdana Putra, di Putrajaya, semalam.

PM mahu langkah drastik selesai isu harga minyak, makanan

PUTRAJAYA: Masyarakat antarabangsa perlu segera mengambil langkah drastik yang lebih berani bagi menangani krisis kenaikan harga minyak dan bahan makanan yang kini mengancam ekonomi dan kehidupan ratusan juta rakyat di seluruh dunia, kata Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Perdana Menteri berkata, pemimpin dunia wajar menyuarakan dengan lantang langkah bagi menangani krisis berkenaan kerana ia boleh mewujudkan ancaman lebih besar jika tiada pihak mengambil inisiatif mengkaji atau meneliti semula pelbagai dasar yang menjadi punca berlakunya masalah itu.

"Pada pandangan saya, keadaan yang sedang melanda dunia ketika ini jelas sekali menuntut kepada maklum balas yang lebih berani daripada masyarakat antarabangsa.

"Kita perlu lebih bersedia menyuarakan permasalahan ini secara jujur dengan mengkaji semula beberapa dasar menyebabkan ia berlaku.

"Ini termasuk, perkara seperti menggantikan penggunaan biofuel untuk pengeluaran bahan makanan atau negara maju memerlukan peraturan lebih baik bagi pasaran dan institusi kewangan mereka," katanya berucap pada majlis meraikan peserta Forum Ekonomi Dunia bagi Asia Timur 2008, di Dataran Perdana, Bangunan Perdana Putra, di sini, malam tadi.

Abdullah berkata, forum berkenaan adalah platform terbaik bagi membincangkan permasalahan yang sedang dihadapi masyarakat antarabangsa berkaitan kenaikan harga minyak mentah dunia dan bekalan bahan makanan.

Katanya, peserta perlu memanfaatkan forum yang sudah memiliki reputasi di mata masyarakat antarabangsa bagi mengeluarkan pelbagai cadangan dan idea inovatif untuk mencari kaedah terbaik menangani masalah itu.

"Dunia kini berdepan krisis makanan, minyak dan ekonomi secara serentak. Kita pernah berdepan masalah yang sama sebelum ini, tetapi ia tidak berlaku serentak seperti pada masa ini.

"Ia dilihat akan mewujudkan masalah lebih besar dan akhirnya boleh mendatangkan kemusnahan kepada setiap negara," katanya.

Abdullah berkata, kemakmuran ekonomi di rantau Asia Timur kini diancam tiga masalah iaitu kenaikan harga makanan, peningkatan kos pengeluaran bekalan tenaga dan kemelut ekonomi yang serius.

Ia, katanya, menyebabkan kehidupan rakyat berpendapatan rendah dan sederhana di seluruh dunia terjejas kerana kos sara hidup yang tinggi sehingga menyebabkan berlaku bantahan secara besar-besaran di beberapa negara di dunia.

"Kebanyakan negara di rantau berkenaan sudah pun mengambil pelbagai langkah drastik bagi melindungi ekonomi dan kepentingan rakyat masing-masing, tetapi kesannya adalah terhad jika krisis terbabit terus berlaku," katanya.

Anwar Seeking `Redemption' as Champion of Malaysian Equality

On his first night in detention, the father of six was beaten by the country's head of police, Abdul Rahim Noor. ``I thought I would be left to die there, I could see blood all over,'' Anwar recalls. Noor was eventually convicted of causing harm to Anwar.

By Angus Whitley, Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Confined to a wheelchair by a police beating and facing corruption and sodomy charges, Anwar Ibrahim wasn't about to let his jailer spoil a good photo opportunity.

``He scolded me for blocking photographers and preventing supporters from shaking his hand,'' says Ahmad Romli, recalling the 1999 High Court appearance in Kuala Lumpur. ``Anwar said his life was in politics and he would never surrender.''

Now Anwar, unbowed by the six years he spent in prison and calling himself ``a wiser man'' for the experience, may be on the verge of ending five decades of rule by the ethnic Malay party that once groomed him to become Malaysia's prime minister.

His multiracial coalition -- dedicated to scrapping a system that gives the Malay majority preferential access to jobs, housing and education -- scored record gains in March elections; Anwar says he can line up enough government lawmakers to topple Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi within three months.

``He's not seeking revenge,'' says former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, who has known Anwar for years. ``He's seeking redemption.''

It's a description far removed from the firebrand leader of the 1970s who formed and led an Islamic youth group and later, as deputy president of the ruling United Malays National Organisation, defended Malay supremacy.

Conversion or Ploy?

Now 60, the former finance minister says the country's pro-Malay rules hamper growth in Southeast Asia's third-largest economy, which the central bank says is likely to slow this year to between 5 and 6 percent from 2007's 6.3 percent. That stance, putting him on the same side as the nation's ethnic Chinese and Indians, is just the latest twist in a political journey that inevitably stirs suspicions that his conversion to championing equality is simply a ploy to win power.

In three interviews in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in the past three months, Anwar rejected opponent's charges that he is little more than a political chameleon.

``Chameleon means you say different things to different people,'' he says. ``My message is consistent; the examples must be different to cater to the audience. I go to the urban area, I quote Shakespeare; I go to the village, I quote the Koran; you quote Confucius to the Chinese; to the Hindus, I quote Ramayana.''

Anwar got his start in politics as a student activist at the University of Malaya and helped found the Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia, many of whose members supported the Pan- Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS. Imprisoned without trial under security laws in 1974 after leading protests against rural poverty, he shocked his allies in 1982 by joining UMNO, the party that has ruled Malaysia since the country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1957.

Mahathir's Protege

Mahathir Mohamad, prime minister from 1981 to 2003, appointed Anwar minister for youth, agriculture and education. As education minister between 1986 and 1991, he changed the national language in school text books to ``Malay'' from ``Malaysian.'' ``I had very strong views on the position of the language, of the culture, of the religion,'' Anwar says. ``But I also realized the hypocrisy of religion, the ultra- conservative views that will stunt intellectual growth.''

In 1991, he was named finance minister; two years later, he defeated the UMNO deputy president and became deputy premier. Then, in 1998, Mahathir fired Anwar amid speculation that the deputy was moving to oust him. Not long after, Anwar was arrested, charged with corruption and sodomizing his wife's former driver. He denied the allegations; the sodomy conviction was eventually overturned.

Leper Colony

Between 1998 and 2004, Anwar was incarcerated at Sungai Buloh prison, a former leper colony nestled in oil-palm-covered hills 22 miles (35 kilometers) northwest of Kuala Lumpur.

On his first night in detention, the father of six was beaten by the country's head of police, Abdul Rahim Noor. ``I thought I would be left to die there, I could see blood all over,'' Anwar recalls. Noor was eventually convicted of causing harm to Anwar.

While on trial in 1999, Anwar scribbled editorials for foreign newspapers in the margins of his court documents, and in jail, the government regarded him as an opponent. For more than six months, he washed his own bed sheets using a tap and toilet in his cell. From morning to midnight most days, he read religious scripts and plays to broaden his understanding of Indian and Chinese faiths.

Memorizing the Koran

According to head guard Ahmad, 56, who is now retired, Anwar would memorize the Koran, pray five times a day and run around the prison soccer pitch in the evenings for exercise.

Anwar was isolated for most of his sentence in the hospital wing, where guards were ordered by the government to log his movements every 15 minutes.

``Eleven o'clock: Sleeping. 11:15: Still sleeping. One o'clock: Got up to go to the toilet,'' Ahmad said in an interview at his home in Taiping, a three-hour drive north of Malaysia's capital. ``We'd write it down.''

Anwar says that his contacts with his guards and fellow inmates, as limited as they were, started him on the path to reconsider his pro-Malay past, embodied by the 1971 New Economic Policy that legalized the system of preferential treatment. Under the program, listed companies must sell 30 percent of their stock to Malays, property developers offer them cheaper homes, and public universities allow them easier entry than Chinese and Indians.

Stolen Jeans

Anwar cites a 19-year-old Malay inmate who was serving a six-month sentence for stealing a pair of jeans. The youth, who he didn't identify, said pro-Malay policies only encouraged corruption and benefited government officials, rather than ordinary Malays -- the case Anwar now makes to argue that the preferences hinder economic growth.

``We are not here representing non-Malay sentiment,'' Anwar says. ``We are persuading Malays to respect the new economic realities.''

In April 1999, Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail formed a new party that is now the country's largest opposition group in Parliament. During that year's election campaign, opposition parties campaigned with pictures of Anwar taken after his police beating.

In 2004, Anwar was finally released, under terms preventing him from immediately re-entering electoral politics. Even so, ``he came out more purposeful than when he went in,'' James Wolfensohn, who was president of the World Bank in 1998 when Anwar was chairman of the bank's development committee, said in an interview.

Changed for the Better

``He certainly has determination to lead his country,'' says Wolfensohn, who adds that he believes the prison experience changed Anwar for the better.

Not everyone agrees. ``He now puts his interest above the nation,'' says Ezam Mohamad Nor, 41, a former aide to Anwar who is chairman of Gerak Malaysia, a non-government organization that campaigns against corruption, and who last month joined Abdullah's party. ``After coming out from prison he is so obsessed with becoming the prime minister. This is one of the main reasons I left.''

Even Anwar's new political allies are still a bit wary of his conversion to their cause, but say it's a chance worth taking.

``We feel that we should be able to take the risk, despite his past record, that he wants to be an agent for reform and change,'' says Lim Guan Eng, the ethnic Chinese chief minister of Penang.

Worst Result

This year, Abdullah, 68, called elections for March 8, before the ban on Anwar's competing as a candidate was to expire. The gamble didn't pay off: Anwar's multi-ethnic People's Justice Party, the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party won control of five of Malaysia's 13 states, handing the ruling UMNO its worst-ever result and denying the government coalition it leads its usual two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The results prompted calls from within Abdullah's own party for him to step down; amid the political instability, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index has fallen 15 percent this year. So far, though, Abdullah has weathered the crisis. Criticized for failing to cut graft, he proposed a new anti-corruption commission and a panel to vet and pick judges. He has also courted corporate Malaysia by removing price restrictions on steel and cement makers, and some now think he will be able to hold on.

``There seems to be a wrong perception that the government has lost control,'' says Wai Kee Choong, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in Kuala Lumpur. ``There'll be no change of government.''

That doesn't stop Anwar, still waiting for Malaysia's attorney general to clear him to run for public office, from plotting his comeback from the suburban Kuala Lumpur home that serves as his office.

Alongside his desk, a prayer mat is draped on a stand. Nearby, Islamic art and scriptures hang on the wall beside pictures of him, laughing. ``I've never had the desire to walk away,'' he says.