Anwar

I happened to be in Malaysia when the story broke, in 1998. Anwar Ibrahim, the political darling, protégé of long-serving Prime Minister Mohammed Mahatir, the man Malaysians regarded as their future, was arrested for sodomy.

The way the business people thought of Anwar was that whenever Mahatir came up with some particularly hare-brained scheme he would tone it down, make it acceptable for the markets, keep Malaysia progressing. Mahatir needed this: we are talking about a man who, having won the right to stage the Asian games, insisted on designing the seats in the stadium himself.

Mahatir and Anwar fell out, fairly publicly, and then there was this. I spoke to someone close to the political class, who told me that actually sodomy was rife in Malaysia, particularly among the upper echelons, so he couldn’t say that Anwar wasn’t guilty, but that it was certain that even if he was it was a stitch-up.

In fact the first charge was for corruption, which he denied. After the sodomy charge was overturned he was arrested again, also for sodomy.

During all this time, in prison and out of it but banned from politics, Anwar’s wife Dr. Wan Aziza Wan Ismail not only stood by him but substituted for him, becoming leader of the opposition party. She resigned her parliamentary seat in order to let her husband back in.

The recent news that all charges against Anwar have been dropped may just herald a new beginning for Malaysia. I hope so.