A cyber war in Malaysian politics?

FEB 19 — Once upon a time, before the Internet became as common as the television in Malaysian homes, public figures made local speeches that were tailored to suit the audience that was physically present.

This worked well for politicians wishing to entertain the parochial tendencies of the audience of the day without jeopardising their prospects of becoming nationally relevant.

Today, however, such speeches quickly leak into the wired world of the Internet, putting things into a different context, and revealing the speakers' supposed real values to the world.

Playing local politics with the awareness that the audience is always the whole wide world is no easy task, especially for those who have been in politics and in power long before the Internet changed everything.

The dominant Umno learned this the hard way three years ago when it decided to telecast "live" its national assembly. The parochialism and racism expressed by its candidates on that occasion for the nation to hear soon forced it to backtrack.

Defensive arrogance does grow out of the inability to evolve.

The attempt to block access to Raja Petra Kamarudin's controversial Malaysia Today website last year managed to stop traffic going to that site, but did not stop access to its contents. Mirror sites sprung up immediately to nullify the censorship.

The police decision in September 2008 to use the Internal Security Act to jail Raja Petra, along with prominent opposition politician Teresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, merely backfired. The de facto minister of law, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, soon resigned in protest.

Publicly calling female bloggers liars, as then Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor did in March 2007, is also not a very smart thing to do. The negative reaction on the web on that occasion was tremendous.

Opinions expressed for local consumption becoming national news is part and parcel of a revolution in information technology which carries enormous consequences for the near future. Some are positive, and some will certainly not be.

Through the Net, you can sell old useless books you have under the stairs on the world market; you can get to know strangers on the other half of the world merely by being on chat sites; and you can arrange an entire holiday to the south of France without talking to any salesperson at all.

In Malaysian politics, we have witnessed how SMSes, videos and phone cameras have come into play. While these can uncover abuse of power, as in the case of the woman forced to do ear-squats naked while detained by the police in December 2005; reveal dubious practices, as in the case of the Lingam Tapes released in 2007 showing a prominent lawyer boasting about his ability to fix top judge appointments through political connections; and contribute to court cases, as in SMSes supposedly sent by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to a lawyer, discussing the detention of a close associate then charged with involvement in the murder of a Mongolian woman.

The latest political incident involving IT innovations concerns the circulation of nude pictures of prominent opposition politician Elizabeth Wong, secretly taken on a phone camera.

The case of Wong (also a blogger), who has offered to resign from her position as state assemblywoman for the opposition-held Selangor, adds worrying dimensions to the political use of modern IT.

First, it is not only the line between the local and the national that is being erased. The line between the private and the public is fading fast as well.

That is worrying indeed. Most urbanites in Malaysia of all races, especially in the Klang Valley where Wong lives, would undoubtedly consider Wong the victim. Mass media attempts to class the case as a "sex scandal" — and this happened on both sides of the Causeway — smack of shameless sensationalism, journalistic amateurism and political opportunism.

In the sanctity of her home, surely she is allowed to walk scantily dressed, sleep half-naked, even shower nude, and yes, have sex without clothes on. The culprits deserving punishment are those who facilitated the publicising of those pictures, regardless of whether they were taken with her permission or not.

The fact that she is an unmarried woman, and not a man, has had a serious impact on how the incident is being interpreted. Should a male politician, married or not, such as former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo, for example, have been photographed in the nude while asleep, the fallout would have been minimal, even comical.

The Wong case also shows the disturbing shrinkage of moral space when the private and the local are technologically subsumed under the public and the national.

Moral values do differ geographically, individually, culturally and according to lifestyle. This diversity is denied when such a case gets politicised, and here, the supposed sensitivities of the vocally most religious, most parochial, most traditional and most rural are allowed to define the national public norm. Wong is being sacrificed to appease illiberal elements within the opposition. Surely, this is not what the Pakatan Rakyat is fighting for.

A political cyber war has started in Malaysia. While we thought that the old would be at the mercy of the new in such a showdown, it is time to realise that, in truth, the more desperate and more immoral has the edge.

The writer is a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. His latest book is "March 8: Eclipsing May 13" (with Johan Saravanamuttu and Lee Hock Guan, ISEAS).

Lack of faith disturbing? — The Malaysian Insider

FEB 19 — Sometimes the best explanations are the simplest ones. Princess Diana died because her driver was drunk and going too fast. The Twin Towers were hit by Islamic terrorists, not CIA agents. The continued success of Simon Cowell and the Osbourne family is, indeed, one of the harbingers of the apocalypse.

To this list, we can add the reason Manchester United will, in all likelihood, move five points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table by beating Fulham.

They have a better team. Now this may come as a surprise to those still looking for clues to account for the change in the balance of power this season. In recent months, many otherwise rational people have become convinced that Liverpool have frittered away supremacy in the title race based on a combination of rogue and random factors.

Mind games played by Sir Alex Ferguson, the fractious contract negotiations of Rafael Benitez, boardroom unrest at Anfield or any number of peripheral events are believed to have inspired Manchester United to claw away at Liverpool's lead. This is good news for analysts, commentators and headline-writers, who have had, as The Flintstones theme tune puts it, a gay old time.

Without wishing to spoil the fun, however, it is more straightforward than that. Take the best Manchester United XI and the best Liverpool XI and put them together: how many of Benitez's team would get into Ferguson's? Not many. And that is why the championship is again heading for Old Trafford.

By my reckoning, maximum four, minimum two. Split the difference, call it three. Whichever way, there is nothing here to suggest that Liverpool can get the better of Manchester United this season, or next, without substantial upgrading in the summer.

Using it, Liverpool would be placed above Chelsea, although not by a huge distance. Manchester United, by contrast, would dominate Chelsea with just one player (Frank Lampard) or a generous three (Lampard plus Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole) getting into Ferguson's current team.

Assessment is made on form this season, not reputation. So while there may have been a time when Jose Reina, Liverpool's goalkeeper, would have shaded it from Edwin van der Sar, in goal for Manchester United, it is not right now when the Dutchman has beaten a long-standing British record for minutes without conceding a league goal, and is closing in on the 1,390- minute European record set by Dany Verlinden of Club Brugge in Belgium in 1990.

Javier Mascherano is another who would have walked into the holding midfield role at any club last season, but he has been a disappointment this year, perhaps as a result of his exertions for Argentina during the Olympics.

That leaves Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard as the two Liverpool players who would definitely be accommodated in the Manchester United team while, on a good day, one of Xabi Alonso or Mascherano could make the defensive midfield and an out-of-position Jamie Carragher would contend at full back.

Benitez's penchant for drama has drawn understandably negative comment as Liverpool's grip on the prize has weakened, but he cannot be held solely responsible. His squad deficiencies are being exposed just as Manchester United's strength in depth is at its most apparent.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, had it right. Asked about the mind games that famously denied Newcastle United the title in 1996, he replied that Newcastle's defence, not Kevin Keegan's outburst on Sky TV, determined the final placings. Logical explanations get you nowhere in the pantomime that is the Premier League, though, so instead we waste valuable time analysing pronouncements from Old Trafford, and their effect, at the expense of crediting what is arguably the finest squad of footballers assembled by an English club.

There has never been a group like the one at Manchester United. Gary Neville versus Wes Brown versus Rafael da Silva, and that is just for the right back spot. Wayne Rooney versus Dimitar Berbatov versus Carlos Tevez versus Cristiano Ronaldo. Yet we ignore this and become distracted by Rafa's rant.

There are similarities with the collapse of England's cricket team in Jamaica two weeks ago, in that several small factors might have made an impact on the cohesion of the team, but none were actually in the middle with bat in hand.

So Benitez does not get on with Rick Parry, the chief executive? Big deal.

Jimmy Greaves, in wonderfully flippant mode, summed up the inconsequence of departmental relationships on the dressing room, by recalling his time at Tottenham Hotspur. “Most of us didn't like Bill Nicholson, and Bill Nicholson didn't like us,” he said. “In fact, the only thing we all agreed on was that we couldn't stand the board of directors.”

Benitez's distance from Parry and George Gillett, one half of the partnership of American owners, may be a problem for the long-term stability of the club and could be very damaging in the summer if he leaves, but it should not be, here and now, an issue for the playing staff. Nor should Benitez's feelings about Ferguson's influence on English football have an effect.

That press conference tirade is often cited as explanation for Liverpool's reversal of fortune, but what would the fall-out be anyway? That Liverpool players rally around Benitez in the desire to stick one up United? They seem to have had that motivation for some while, judging by Mascherano's furious display at Old Trafford last season.

The idea that Benitez's claims put pressure on his players is also ridiculous; as if there were previously no pressure on a Liverpool team with an opportunity to win its first title in the modern era. Had Benitez taken a vow of silence until the end of the season, the tension at Anfield would still be oppressively thick.

The reality is that Liverpool are going up against a colossal group of players at United and no team, not even the lavishly-assembled Chelsea, can live with them right now. They have a unique multiplicity, so even the understudies of understudies would get into many good teams (as Mikael Silvestre did at Arsenal this season).

It is in many ways the perfect squad, because it also provides for the future in players such as Ben Foster, the reserve goalkeeper, and Jonny Evans, who has fitted in magnificently at centre half in the absence of Rio Ferdinand this season.

It is a sign of United's power that they could play an unconventional central midfield of Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher against Chelsea and still win comfortably. On another day it might be Michael Carrick and Anderson or Paul Scholes. If Benitez had United's squad he could rant at or fall out with who he liked: he would still win the league, as United almost certainly will.

Now combine the two teams, starting at the back. Both have good keepers, but there can be no argument that a man who has gone 1,212 minutes without conceding a league goal is among the players of the season. Van der Sar, therefore, gets the nod over Reina. He has been on a roll since emerging victorious from the penalty shoot-out at the Champions League final last season.

United have three strong right backs and the only alternative would be to overlook them all for Carragher, Benitez's defensive rock, out of position in a role he has occupied in key matches in Europe. This would be appealing because, to put it bluntly, he is not getting into this team at centre half.

Those positions are reserved for Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, an early contender for Footballer of the Year. Ferdinand's appearances through the season have been restricted by injury, but Vidic has been a constant and as a partnership they have now surpassed John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho of Chelsea.

At left back, United's Patrice Evra is the best in the country at the moment, ahead of Ashley Cole, of Chelsea.

Midfield brings another Manchester United landslide with Gerrard the only Liverpool player in a four that would comprise Ronaldo, Fletcher and Giggs. Torres would be the goalscoring spearhead, but his partner would be Rooney. Final total: Manchester United 8, Liverpool 3. And one of Liverpool's three gets in with a shoe-horn.

Despite the excellent job done by Roy Hodgson, Manchester United should beat Fulham and, at that moment, a daunting lead will open up. Liverpool still have to go to Old Trafford, so the battle is not over, but the biggest shock of the season would be if United threw it away from here.

If that were the case, there genuinely would be need for an investigation — into whether Ronaldo's heart was still in Manchester, whether Berbatov's arrival had unsettled the team, if Ferguson was correct in his treatment of Tevez.

Were Manchester United to blow it, we would all be looking behind the story for clues. It is easier to work out what has gone wrong at Liverpool, though: the answer is right there, on the teamsheet. — The Daily Mail

Govt says no to National Language for Malaysian Catholics

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — When the next issue of The Herald, a local Catholic newspaper comes out on Jan 11, it will be missing an entire section in the National Language.

Two days ago, the Home Ministry ordered it to close down its Bahasa Malaysia section, for fear that Malaysian Muslims would become confused over the newspaper’s use of the word “Allah” to mean God outside of Islam.

Rev Father Lawrence Andrew, its editor, is troubled. But he has no choice but to follow the order if he wants to continue publishing.

The ministry has made it clear that it will not hesitate to close down the newspaper if the new terms are not met.

It had renewed the newspaper’s yearly publishing permit only on Dec 31, the very day it expires.

The Herald is the only national newspaper carrying Catholic news to the religion’s 840,000 followers in Malaysia.

The weekly publishes in four languages: English, Chinese, Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia to cater to its multilingual, multicultural followers.

Many of them are bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak, who communicate mainly in the National Language, Lawrence claimed.

But the Catholic Church will not be letting this issue slide, said Lawrence.

Its circulation had jumped an extra 1,000 readers from 13,000 in August last year.

“We cannot accept this. This is ridiculous,” said Lawrence.

He added: “The question is: who can tell you that you cannot use Bahasa Malaysia? It is the National Language.”

He told The Malaysian Insider today the federal government order is interfering with the Catholic Church’s right to practise its religion freely.

The Church is considering filing for another court order, on top of its judicial review, to stop the government’s restrictions.

The Church took the ministry to court last April challenging the government order that it cannot use the word “Allah” to mean God outside the religion of Islam.

The case is ongoing.

Lawrence asked for the government to let the court decide and “not jump the gun”.

“The only thing we are disputing is the word ‘Allah’,” he said.

Malaysian leader to step down in March

By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer AP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's prime minister announced Wednesday he will step down in March and hand over power to his deputy, averting an open rebellion from party members that could have led to a humiliating ouster.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose term expires in 2013, told reporters that he was stepping down early to prevent a split in his United Malays National Organization party, which forms the core of the ruling National Front coalition.

"In all my years of service, I have always been guided by my conscience ... and I do not want a divided party and governing coalition, but one that is united and harmonious," he said, flanked by his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Abdullah had very little choice. His own party members has been clamoring for a new leadership after he led the National Front _ in power since independence in 1957 _ to its worst performance in a general election last March.

Initially, Abdullah refused to resign. Later, he said he would leave in June 2010, but when that failed to placate dissidents he agreed to quit in March 2009 after the party holds elections for its office bearers.

Abdullah said he will not defend his position as UMNO president in the elections. Instead, the post will be contested by Najib, who is expected to win unopposed. The party's president automatically becomes the prime minister.

Abdullah said he will hand over the premiership after Najib formally wins.

Until then, he said, he will pursue reforms in the judiciary, economy and administration. Abdullah is unlikely to achieve much given that his reform program has made little headway during his four years in office.

The global financial crisis and economic slowdown is expected to hit Malaysia's export-driven economy hard, with analysts predicting 3 percent economic growth in 2009 _ even as inflation reached a 27-year high this month.

Racial tensions are also running high between the majority Malays and the minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, who blame the government's pro-Malay policies for causing social fissures.

Anger against the government exploded in the general elections when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's multiracial coalition, the People's Alliance, won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament.

The March 8 election results triggered months of turmoil in the United Malays National Organization and have threatened its position as the country's dominant political force.

___

Associated Press writers Sean Yoong and Julia Zappei contributed to this article.

Shafie Apdal: East Malaysian MPs loyal to BN

By Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 - A group of East Malaysian MPs claiming to represent the entire BN contingent from Borneo stated their "undivided loyalty" to the ruling coalition.

Led by Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, the group of about 20 MPs called speculation of jumping over to Pakatan Rakyat nothing more than lies by irresponsible parties.

"We are not commodities to be bought and sold. We have our honour," he said at a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.

"Don't listen to Anwar's lies," Shafie replied when quizzed about opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Inbrahim's continued insistence that his plan to take over the federal government by Sept 16 is on track.

"Ask Anwar to name the MPs," Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui challenged, saying that all East Malaysian BN MPs would be signing a pledge and sending it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tomorrow.

Shafie also said that Sabah Progressive Party's two MPs, Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun and Datuk Chua Boon Sui, also assured they would stick with BN.

However, the duo, whose party president Datuk Yong Teck Lee has stated he would support a motion of no-confidence in the currrent administration, were conspicuous in their absence as was Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman who had today itself raised serious questions about the hotly-debated DNA Identification Bill.

Anifah, whose brother Datuk Seri Musa Aman is Sabah Chief Minister, is widely considered to be the leader of Sabah Umno MPs, and is believed by BN officials to have decided along with a few other MPs to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat.

Other MPs present included Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas and Deputy Minister Of International Trade and Industry Datuk Liew Vui Keong.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com.my

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.