Anwar the Malaysian chameleon
By Ioannis Gatsiounis

KUALA LUMPUR - While speculation continues as to where Anwar Ibrahim will place his political allegiances now that he's been released from prison, the former Malaysian deputy premier in recent weeks has quietly gone about courting minorities and the disenfranchised, a move he hopes will serve him well regardless of whether he rejoins the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the long-ruling conservative party that ousted him prior to his imprisonment five years ago, or some form of the reform-minded opposition alliance, formed in the wake of his ouster.

Last week Anwar met with Chinese leaders and predicted economic doom for Malaysia, obviously playing to the capital-minded Chinese community's fears. He recently called for a revision of gay-sex laws. And he said he supported vernacular education being taught in mother tongues such as Tamil and Mandarin.

At a dialogue at the Bar Council in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Anwar said he was surprised by the attention townsfolk gave him when he sat down for Indian food last week: "I saw Chinese and Indians [supporting me] like I've never seen before."

But that attention hardly shores up the support necessary to make a potent political comeback - what some are calling a long shot.

His controversial corruption conviction bars him from running for office until 2008, when he will be 61; and since his acquittal of sodomy charges in September, the UMNO elite, cozy in their culture of money politics and cronyism, have banded together in denouncing him.

Yet Anwar may be on to something. While he himself is Malay and rose to prominence partly on his Islamic credentials - he founded the youth Islamic organization Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) - minorities, who make up 40% of the population here, find themselves feeling less represented by their government these days.

All Malaysian political parties are race-based. Over the years UMNO has dealt with this obstacle through its coalition with Chinese, Indian and other minority-oriented parties. But UMNO has always steered the ship, and there's a growing sense that the non-Malay parties are made up of ineffectual sinecures submissive to UMNO-sponsored window dressing.

This coincides with UMNO's insistence in recent months that an affirmative-action program catering to the majority Malays "never" be questioned, despite its inability to reverse Malay "backwardness" and its running 14 years beyond its intended expiry date, 1990. It also coincides with an unceasing Islamization of the Malay community, which UMNO has pandered to, even promoted, for support. The Muslim headscarf is ever more visible, for instance.

The multibillion-dollar administrative capital is Islamic-themed, with no prominent tributes to the nation's myriad other ethnicities. On Sunday, a UMNO head in the state of Terengannu announced that concerts that do not reflect Islamic values will be barred from the state. Everywhere one turns, racial distinctions are being emphasized.

The consummate politician in Anwar appears to have taken note. At a dialogue on Tuesday at the Bar Council he said the formation of an Islamic state, advocated by the atavistic Islamic opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), was not part of his agenda. "I respect the religious rights of every Malaysian and, therefore, their democratic right to air their views," Anwar said. Regarding hudud, punishment for crimes as stipulated by God, according to Muslims, Anwar said, "We're not in a position to implement [hudud] with the complexities of Malaysia and ... of the modern world."

Anwar was careful not to go to the other extreme and support the Western tag of "secularism", as "many Muslims resent that [term]".

Several audience members at the dialogue expressed their exasperation with the ruling government, and their questions indirectly appealed to Anwar for help. One Malay woman, for instance, lamenting the fact that as a Malay she was born Muslim and is barred from apostasy and resigned to following Islamic law, asked Anwar what his position was on the matter. Anwar circumvented - and it wasn't long before the dialogue took a conspicuous shift.

People then began to press Anwar on what he is really committed to. He has long been accused of being a chameleon, sending different messages to different audiences. One lawyer said this was somewhat understandable given Malaysia's complex racial fabric. "But we want to know if we should throw our weight behind you. Compromise is not necessarily the best way for you to go."

Another audience member was more blunt. "People don't trust you on the ground. You must take a stand on issues or it will be detrimental to your future."

By and large the audience, composed of many Indians and Chinese, and its comments stressed a desire for change. No one in Malaysian politics is currently leading that charge. There is, in fact, growing fear that current Premier Abdullah Badawi, who has promised reform since he came to power a year ago but has delivered negligibly, may be losing support within UMNO to his deputy, Najib Razak. (Indeed, the local media have been giving equal if not more attention to Razak of late.) Razak represents UMNO's old guard, which sits well with many in the party but not with the rakyat (citizens). In a word, this has made the public, especially minorities, ever more open to a reform agenda.

Of course, Anwar is in a bind. To regain political prominence he can't alienate the Muslim community. And yet appealing to the swelling numbers of disenfranchised Malaysians may be his best chance to make political inroads. He need not abandon Muslims to attract their support. He just needs to hone his message. And it's that, rather than an outright rejection, that Tuesday's audience was expressing.

Ioannis Gatsiounis, a New York native, has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent and previously co-hosted a weekly political/cultural radio call-in show in the US. He has been living in Malaysia since late 2002.

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