Malaysia's Anwar faces make-or-break test in poll

Malaysia's next election will be a make-or-break test for opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim, once regarded as a future prime minister, but now hemmed in by his opponents and battling to stay relevant to voters.

Anwar will have one hand tied behind his back in fighting the election, because he is barred from running for public office until April, after being convicted in 1999 on charges of abuse of power that led to time in jail.

His Keadilan political party is officially headed by his wife, who is its only member of parliament, and it is struggling to hammer out a common opposition platform with partners ranging from hardline Islamists to race-based parties.

But Anwar was undeterred, saying that although he did not expect the elections to be free and fair, the opposition would still manage to deprive the government of a two-thirds majority, the level of support required to change the constitution.

"Knowing that the elections are fradulent, there is too much cheating, no media access - denying them a two-thirds majority is, God willing, a certainty," Anwar said in a recent interview.

Polls are not due until May 2009, but Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants a fresh five-year mandate to capitalise on a string of state construction projects launched in the last 18 months. The economy is one of his few campaign strengths.

Anwar ignited one of Malaysia's longest-running political quarrels in 1998, by challenging veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad and leading anti-government street protests, before he was jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy that he said were trumped up.

A court quashed the sodomy charges and freed the former deputy prime minister from jail in September 2004, soon after he finished serving the corruption sentence, but the conviction bars him from running for public office until April 2008.

At the time, many Malaysians viewed Anwar's release as a sign that Mahathir's successor, Abdullah, would make good on reform promises that had won his ruling coalition a landslide election victory in March 2004. But progress has been slow.

Instead, voters have had to tighten their belts against rising prices of fuel and food, while campaigns to rein in corruption and slash red tape have lost steam.

Abdullah has also seen his support eroded by growing racial and religious tension as Malaysia's minority ethnic Chinese and Indian communities fear their rights are being trampled on.

Ethnic Malays, who are mainly Muslim, make up just over half of Malaysia's 26 million people, with ethnic Chinese accounting for a quarter and Indians around 7 percent.

The government was alarmed when more than 20,000 people turned out in November for two protests, one by opposition parties demanding poll reform, and the other by ethnic Indians complaining they had been denied job and education opportunities.

Abdullah's ruling coalition runs no risk of losing the polls but it is likely to see its majority reduced, analysts say. If Anwar can tap into the minority groups' unhappiness, their disaffection could be the astute politician's greatest asset.

"We have the minorities being angry. They are really angry," Anwar said. "But of course I don't take things for granted," he added, vowing to shape his party's agenda and list of candidates carefully in order to lure minority votes for the opposition.

Born on August 10, 1947, the son of a politician, Anwar went to one of Malaysia's top schools, the Malay College in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, and made his name as a firebrand Islamic youth leader.

He was jailed for 20 months under the Internal Security Act beginning in 1974 for leading anti-government demonstrations against impoverished conditions in the north.

Mahathir invited him to join UMNO in 1982 and Anwar began a meteoric rise. He held a string of senior cabinet posts, including the ministries of agriculture and education, and had been finance minister since 1991 before being sacked.

Anwar was sentenced to a total of 15 years in jail for abuse of power and sodomy - charges he said were fabricated by Mahathir's government to prevent him challenging the ex-premier.

Mahathir denies the accusations, saying he sacked Anwar because he was morally unfit to rule.

Anwar was removed in the midst of Asia's financial crisis, which opened up a rift between Anwar and a business elite close to Mahathir, who retired in 2003 after 22 years in power.

Anwar is married to former eye doctor Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. The couple have six children, five girls and a boy.