From Sidney Morning Herald
By Barry Wain

The last time Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was charged with sodomy, the country’s judicial system was on trial. This time around, the stakes are even higher.

If Anwar is convicted, in a case that opened in Kuala Lumpur’s High Court on Tuesday, Malaysians can wave goodbye to the best chance of developing a two-party political system in more than half a century.

It will also end any real prospect of Malaysia extricating itself from corrosive race-based politics, and signal the former British territory’s continued descent into self-destructive extremism.

Over the past two years, the charismatic Anwar, 62, has achieved what many analysts thought was impossible. He has tacked together three disparate political parties and formed a credible – if still fragile – opposition, representing hope for a multiracial future.

Nobody else has the organisational ability, political skills and personal trust to hold them together and provide the People’s Front, as it calls itself, with dynamic leadership.

(more…)

From The Economist

The opposition leader treads a familiar path into the dock

SLINGING mud at opponents is a staple of most democracies, even if voters might prefer a more sensible debate. In Malaysia, a prudish, majority-Muslim country, it seems that nothing succeeds quite like below-the-belt personal attacks. For Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader and former deputy prime minister, who went on trial this week accused of sodomising a young male aide, the tactic is wearily familiar. In 1998 he was charged with the same crime, found guilty and jailed. Exonerated and freed, he has staged a comeback that another conviction might jeopardise.

Much has changed in Malaysia since Mr Anwar last took the stand. His nemesis, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who presided over his downfall, has retired, if not exactly gracefully or quietly. The once-mighty United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads a 13-party multiracial governing coalition, looks increasingly vulnerable at a future election. A judiciary that was seen as beholden to its political masters has begun to assert its independence, and has sided with free-speech plaintiffs in prickly faith-related cases. (more…)

From Qantara.Com

Interview with Anwar Ibrahim by Rizki Nugraha

As leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim is one of Malaysia’s most influential politicians. In this interview with Rizki Nugraha he speaks about Muslim-Christian relations, the influence of religion on politics and the outlook for democracy in his country.

Tension between religions in Malaysia has been rising since the court ruling that allows non-Muslims to use the word “Allah”.

Anwar Ibrahim: Certain groups feel that it is in their interest to ratchet up tension because it serves their ulterior motives, but I would not say that great damage has been inflicted on Muslim-Christian relations. The Christian community’s response to the arson attacks has been very positive and measured, and many Muslims have come out in support of the Christian community, for example, forming neighbourhood watch committees to protect Churches.

I have travelled far from the epicentre of the so-called “disturbances” and I find that people are generally unperturbed by the court ruling and are wary of being manipulated by the powers-that-be, whose steady decline in the popular ratings is the real reason for this artificially created crisis.

I’m happy to say that the broader population is not easily hoodwinked.

Why did the Malaysian government insist on appealing the court’s decision, despite the fact that in doing so, it risks widening the gap between Muslims and Christians?

Ibrahim: The government appealed because it is hostage to the demands of an incendiary few. This group insists on using this issue to drive a wedge between different parts of the electorate – hoping to score a few points with fringe elements. They are not very concerned that the consequences of their actions could broaden divisions in society and lead to strife. (more…)