Is Anwar really poised for a comeback?

The Straits Times, Singapore

Is Anwar really poised for a comeback?

DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim's upscale home in Kuala Lumpur's Damansara Heights is beginning to look a bit worn, having doubled as his political base since he was ousted from the government in 1998. The former deputy prime minister himself, however, has never looked better. Late last month, he hosted a Hari Raya open house. Gone was the gaunt man who had aged tremendously when he was first released from prison last year after the Federal Court set aside his conviction for sodomy.

At the open house, a rejuvenated Datuk Seri Anwar greeted supporters and a sprinkling of politicians, businessmen and diplomats, making it the highlight of one of his few trips back in Malaysia.

Datuk Seri Anwar has spent most of this year abroad, teaching in the United States and Britain. This kept him out of the news and, as the year wore on, the euphoria over his release from prison also died down. Even a number of startling court judgments that bolstered his long-held protest of innocence failed to stir up excitement.

Talk of his rejoining Umno - the only way that he can return to government - also dwindled away.It would be tempting to write off Datuk Seri Anwar as a spent political force, but he has plans to turn things around next year.

To start, he will be spending more time in Malaysia after February, when his stints as a visiting professor at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities in the US and Oxford in Britain end.

'He will be in Kuala Lumpur permanently, although there will still be a lot of travel as he has many speaking engagements abroad,' said his aide Azmin Ali.He also said Parti Keadilan Rakyat, led by Datuk Seri Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Ismail, was set to give the former deputy prime minister a platform to build a higher domestic profile.

It had spent the year building up its membership and machinery to enable Datuk Seri Anwar 'to move on in his political career', although the party has not really been able to find a niche for itself.Datuk Seri Anwar plans to hold a series of programmes with the businessmen, professionals, religious groups and civil society organisations to explain his vision.'There is no way for us to reach the people through the media, so we will be holding small workshops rather than large rallies through the year,' said Mr Azmin.

Datuk Seri Anwar is barred from active politics, including running for office, until 2008 as his conviction for corruption remains on the books.He has refused to seek a royal pardon.

Datuk Seri Abdullah's future could depend on whether he is able to light a spark under the current lacklustre efforts to bring the opposition parties into a cohesive pact.