Bill Clinton
once styled himself the “comeback kid,” but he has nothing on
Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim. Two weeks ago, the former deputy prime
minister turned political prisoner was officially cleared to reenter
politics, and many think he could become his country’s next prime
minister. He spoke to Foreign Policy about his return to power and how
former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad thought he could break him
Foreign Policy: When will you seek political office?
Anwar Ibrahim:
I can now. The issue is when do I want to do it. [The opposition
alliance] has five state governments with one federal territory, six
regions that are the key regions. We have to make sure that they are
managed well and transparently. There are a lot of things that need to
be done because we are not just improving the performance of the
previous government. I want to ensure that the coalition will stick
together, and there is the responsibility of taking over the
government. That is more pressing than my personally running for a
seat in the Parliament, because that would deflect attention. But I am
not discounting [my running for office]. We are still looking at it
and it can even be soon.
FP: What explains your coalition’s strong performance in the
last election?
AI: It is a
strength of a more multiracial, interreligious formula. We are forged
together on the basis of our belief in democratic reforms. After all,
this is not something alien. This is what was promised to us when we
achieved independence in 1957. Coupled with this multiracial,
interreligious agenda, we talk about a new Malaysian economic agenda.
We have lost competitiveness. There is no independent judiciary.
People tend to ignore the fact that a true democratic administration
would give people more confidence.
The elections here were never free and fair. We don’t have free media.
I don’t have 10 minutes of airtime on local television. Even the
electoral process was clearly fraudulent. But with all that, we still
made an extremely impressive showing. They term it now a political
tsunami.
FP: So what is the most difficult part of leading an
opposition party like this?
AI:
You have to spend a lot of time engaging them. Getting them to agree
is not just a matter of political expediency. It is a matter of
creating a specific policy and reform agenda while protecting the
interests of these party elements. The engagement is a series of
conversations. It is tiring.
FP: Do you have concern about people defecting? How are
you going to hold them together?
AI:
For now we are very firm and committed to the program. In fact, it is
the ruling party that is now worried about people defecting.
We have the numbers. We have 30 [members of the ruling party who say
they will defect]. The question then is, why don’t we move now? We are
not moving now for a number of reasons. Number one, Parliament has not
yet convened. Secondly, we want the majority to be comfortable. Number
three, those that have committed must be tested that they are
committed to the reform agenda. Otherwise the coalition can be
volatile.
FP: Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister of Malaysia for
22 years before he retired in 2003. What do you think his legacy will
be?
AI: I
think [he will be remembered] as a young nationalist who came into the
picture to try to make a stand in terms of change and becoming more
independent, but grew to be too overconfident, too assertive, and
turned into almost a megalomaniac. The country was his. This is often
a problem with many of the leaders of emerging countries. You have the
sense even now that he believes he cannot leave because of what [he
thinks] will be destroyed. What is being destroyed? The media and the
judiciary was destroyed under him.
FP: You got into trouble in the late 1990s once you
began to criticize Mahathir, your former political mentor. Did you
underestimate him as a political opponent?
AI: No, I didn’t. But at that time I had
strong views. He resented the idea of my rapport and contact with the
West, particularly the United States. And I said, I know I am not on
the CIA payroll. I have strong views on Iraq. I have very independent
views. What is the harm of my treating America as a friend? He expects
everyone else to be so anti-American to the point of being irrational.
FP: Do you think that Mahathir inadvertently made you a
tougher opponent?
AI:
Mahathir probably underestimated me. He always believed that people
crack under torture or detention. He used to tell me in those days,
when we were on friendlier terms, that what he dreaded most was to be
detained without knowing when he would be released. So that is what he
did to me. He underestimated me. He thought that I would break.
Anwar Ibrahim is former deputy prime minister and
finance minister of Malaysia. He was sentenced to six years in prison
on corruption charges in 1999, sentenced to another nine years for
sodomy in 2000, and released in 2004. He now leads the country’s
alliance of opposition parties. (Foreign
Policy.com)
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