Anwar marks end of political ban

Kuala Lumpur: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Monday (today) celebrates his official return to the political stage, as a ban from public office expires a decade after he was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister.The lifting of the ban marks the end of an extraordinary saga that saw Anwar convicted on sex and corruption charges and spend six years in jail, before storming back to prominence in historic March elections.

With Anwar at the helm, a reinvigorated opposition seized a third of parliamentary seats and five states in the worst ever showing for the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that has ruled for half a century.

Now the 60-year-old maverick is once again being touted as a future Prime Minister, but this time for his Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance which he has described as a "government-in-waiting."

Anwar had been expected to re-enter Parliament quickly through a by-election in one of the seats held by his Keadilan party, and to challenge Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a symbolic no-confidence vote soon after.

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But in light of the stunning and unexpected gains, although he is eligible to run for office from Tuesday, he has said he is in no hurry to act.

"Certainly not in the next few months," he said in a weekend interview with The Star daily. "Building up an effective, creditable Pakatan Rakyat is to my mind far more important for now."

"My number-one priority is to ensure accountability and good governance in maintaining the five states."

Anwar said the expiry of the political ban "has no significance in my mind" because he does not recognise the decision of the court which convicted him of corruption.

But Keadilan is nevertheless holding a major rally on Monday evening, with thousands of supporters of Anwar's campaign for "Reformasi" (Reform) expected to attend to hear him speak.

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"It will be a huge gathering of all our supporters, of what we call the Reformasi crowd, people who have been struggling for the past 10 years," Keadilan's Information Chief Tian Chua told AFP.

"Of course we feel that our struggle has been redeemed and recognised, and we are optimistic that our agenda for reform can be implemented," said Tian, who is also a newly minted parliamentarian in the March 8 polls.- AFP

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