Two men, two trials
AsiaJun 12th 1999 edition
Anwar returns to the dock
LESS than two months after Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's former deputy prime minister, was jailed for six years for corruption, he was back in the dock this week facing charges of sodomy. For many Malaysians, already sceptical of the judicial system, the new trial seemed flawed when the prosecution changed for the second time the year in which Mr Anwar was said to have had illegal sex with his ex-chauffeur, Azizan Abu Bakar. The year had been changed from 1994 to 1992, but it turned out that the building where they were supposed to have met for sex did not exist then. The year has now been changed in the charge to 1993.
Mr Anwar's defence team asked the judge, Ariffin Jaka, to dismiss the case. Before considering this, he lifted an order that prevented any public comment being made about the trial. One effect of this relaxation is that the conduct of the trial may be linked by some commentators to that of the forthcoming general election, which is believed to be imminent. Mr Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Ismail, heads the National Justice Party, an opposition group.
The best guess is that the election will be held in August. The prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has not announced a date, but he has whetted political appetites by predicting that it "will be the dirtiest ever". For that he blames an opposition aided by "foreign manipulators and their media".
Though an election need not be held till June next year, Dr Mahathir may be tempted to go for an early poll, with the prospect of another five-year term, now that the economy is showing signs of recovery and the stockmarket is rising. The pro-government newspapers seem to have got their orders and are running daily attacks on the opposition. Analysts expect both the government and the opposition to seek the support of the country's Chinese and Indian minorities, as the Malay electoral heartland is thought to be split pretty evenly between Dr Mahathir and Mr Anwar.
The opposition parties are aiming for a workable electoral alliance to give them a chance against Dr Mahathir's formidable vote-winning machinery. The parliamentary leader of the opposition, Lim Kit Siang, and his urban Chinese-based Democratic Action Party are keen to share a platform for "justice and clean government" with the more rural-based Islamist party PAS and the new multi-racial party of Mr Anwar's wife. PAS wants Malaysia to become an Islamic state, but realistically may do its best to work with non-Muslim and multi-racial parties.
Dr Mahathir has reshuffled his cabinet to give it a fresh look. The new information minister, Khalil Yaakob, will be in charge of overseeing the media. He was credited with the ruling coalition's easy victory in a state election in Sabah this year. The government has announced an unexpected bonus for nearly 1m government employees. Dr Mahathir is aware that, like Mr Anwar, he too is on trial.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Two men, two trials"
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