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Anwar Ibrahim: 'Najib must pay for what he's done'
In the aftermath of his release from prison, Anwar Ibrahim says he is optimistic about his country's prospects, but past wrongs must be righted.
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By Nastasya Tay
Image: Malaysia's reformist icon Anwar Ibrahim arrives at his house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (AAP)
There’s a banner in Anwar Ibrahim’s front driveway, strung between two trees. In white caps, on black vinyl, it reads 'Bebaskan Anwar, Selamatkan Malaysia. Free Anwar, Save Malaysia'.
There are many in Malaysia who believe it needs saving.
For years, Mr Anwar’s supporters - and others increasingly disillusioned by the government - have regarded the imprisonment of the former deputy prime minister-turned-reformist icon as emblematic of a broader shift in the country: towards the benefit of a politically powerful few. For them, his release represents a departure from what’s become Malaysia’s status quo; an opportunity for hope.
The May 9 election saw the opposition alliance - Pakatan Harapan, or the Alliance of Hope - sweep to a stunning victory, in a poll tarnished by allegations of gerrymandering and electoral manipulation by the ruling Barisan Nasional, or National Front.
In the following week, the country has watched its new leadership enact rapid change. Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has been barred from leaving the country and is being investigated for corruption, his house and other properties raided; a special committee has been established to probe his links to controversial state fund 1MDB. The unpopular Goods and Services Tax imposed under his government has been abolished. Various high-ranking individuals, broadly perceived as Najib's cronies - including the Attorney General and Police Commissioner - have been pushed out or have resigned; many are being investigated themselves.
But perhaps the most symbolic victory for the opposition has been the winning of Anwar Ibrahim’s freedom.
Anwar Ibrahim greets supporters after his release. Source: Getty
Jailed twice under two different prime ministers on politically motivated sodomy charges, he has spent eight of the last twenty years in prison. The nation - and world - watched as he emerged from a local rehabilitation hospital Wednesday, where he was receiving treatment in detention for a shoulder injury - mobbed by cameras and supporters, as he travelled to the palace to receive a full pardon from the King.
Newfound freedom
On his first full day of freedom at home, Mr Anwar is remarkably zen after the political tumult of the last few days.
Joking about how he’s lost weight in prison and in hospital, the 71-year-old is regaling visitors of how he’s been keeping fit on exercise bikes.
Flowers keep arriving, boxes and bunches of them, melons in baskets, cellophane wrapped hampers.
It’s the first day of Ramadan. Last night, his living room was filled with dozens of well-wishers completing iftar prayers. Between interviews and greeting guests, he disappeared into the kitchen, into a chorus of children’s giggles: icecream time with the grandkids.
“It’s a different environment,” he told SBS News, of his first morning at home. “Surrounded by the grandchildren and Wan Azizah [his wife], it’s a wonderful feeling.” He beams.
Forming an alliance
It’s a victory only made possible by a rekindled friendship with Mahathir Mohamad - the man who mentored him then jailed him the first time around in 1998. Once a prominent member of the ruling party, Mr Anwar's support for reformist policies led to a power struggle between the two.
Freed in 2004, but convicted again in 2015 of sodomy, Mr Anwar describes it as a “travesty of justice”, a “clear conspiracy”.
“People ask me, is it true that I do forgive, or is it something just politically expedient? Well, you might say for Mahathir [Mohamad], they can be cynical and say it’s politically expedient. But it’s not politically expedient for Najib [Razak]. I’d be more popular if I just start condemning him… I could screw him up now for what he did to me.”
But, Mr Anwar says, he draws a line between the political and personal, describing the civility of Najib’s visits while he was in hospital, and even when the now former prime minister called him on election night as his defeat became apparent.
“I was exceedingly polite,” he recalls, of their conversation.
“I said, Najib as a friend, may I just advise you to concede and be very gentlemanly about it… Of course, he was extremely reluctant, and he did much later, in a much more combative mood.”
“If I could speak to him in that language, that means I was not that bitter at a personal level,” he says.
Mr Anwar pauses, his expression hardens. “I am bitter for the excesses, ignoring the plight of the rakyat [nation], leaving the country in these economic conditions, in a sham, and inequality, widening the gap between the top clique, the rich group, and the very very poor and the middle class.”
“I think Najib must pay for what he’s done.”
It was here that Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim found common ground - and an alliance - in their desire to take Najib Razak down.
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak attends a press conference to announce his resignation. Source: AAP
“[Mahathir] has seen the excesses of Najib’s administration, that shocked him,” Mr Anwar said.
“Nobody in their right mind would fail to realise the effect that Najib through 1MDB and all the major concessions and continuous spending would drain the resources of the country.”
“It was a very difficult experience for us,” he admitted.
“I said, easy to forgive, but to have amicable, friendly relations is something difficult, which will take time. But I’m glad to say that it wasn’t that difficult. Why? Because firstly he [Mahathir] came to call, as a Muslim, as a Malay, and in the interests of the greater, the broader interest, agenda for Malaysians,” he recounts.
“I think we should welcome those who are welcome to support,” he says, but “we cannot compromise or concede on the agenda for reform.”
In a press conference on the afternoon of his release, Mahathir rolled his eyes at the repeated questioning of their relationship. "Last time, they said it was I who put him in detention. So now, I set him free.”
Former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate Mahathir Mohamad celebrates with other leaders of his coalition during a press conference. Source: AFP
In the dining room on the day of his release, guests are clinking teacups in celebration.
He’s had such a profound impact on his whole family, his wife Wan Azizah [now Deputy Prime Minister] and daughter [Nurul Izzah, now an MP], a bewildered family friend tells me. “How they’ve managed to forgive in the face of everything that’s happened… He’s a religious man. And he’s taught everyone such humility, gentleness.”
A reformist future
Anwar Ibrahim’s unconditional pardon and the exoneration of his criminal record means he can return to political life immediately, but he appears in no hurry to take office as prime minister, instead pledging his support for the new coalition government - as long as they support his reform agenda.
“It’s a breath of fresh air, I find people more comfortable now, more willing to speak up,” he said of the Malaysia he’s found upon his release. But, he cautions, the initial euphoria and jubilance will pass, and citizens will be looking for real change - an independent judiciary, a free media.
The events of the last week have had an extraordinarily populist flavour.
The welcome rally on his first night of liberty was so well attended, they ran out space for cars; a major highway partly closed for hours because people left their cars on the road to jump the barrier, brandishing Pakatan Harapan flags.
Along the central verge of the Federal Highway, every few minutes the LED billboards are taken over by a smiling image of Anwar on opposition light blue, in Malay congratulating the country on finally being “together again”.
The road leading to his home, in a predominantly Malay neighbourhood, is still festooned with royal blue Barisan National flags, now limp after days of rain. He’s not unaware of the challenges ahead when it comes to rebuilding national unity, but for years, has pressed for the removal of race-based policies, in combating both political divides and poverty.
“I was optimistic that we could win, by a small margin, but I was surprised,” he says of the election result.
“To Dr Mahathir’s credit, his campaigning brought us support from the fringes, that we otherwise wouldn’t have had.”
Taking leadership
Not being able to contest this last election, Mr Anwar's role - for now - remains with his party. While he plans to run in a by-election this year to become a member of parliament, he said he also wants to spend more time with his family.
“My wife is deputy prime minister, so I have to learn to stay at home a bit more,” he grins.
For his part - he’s planning on doing Ivy League university speaking engagements and fellowships, and touring other Islamic countries, promoting democratic transition and accountability in the Islamic world.
Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, the 12th Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Source: NurPhoto
Although there’s an agreement within the Alliance that he will take office as prime minister, no firm timeline has been set.
“I don’t think I need to rush into it,” he said. “Let [Prime Minister] Mahathir continue and be comfortable with that he has to do, knowing he has the mandate and move on.”
He has always had a reputation for doing things his own way.
Upon arriving home for the first time in three years, he greeted his family, then strode outside to give a press conference two and a half hours early, and to proclaim his support for Prime Minister Mahathir.
"My interest now is the one for the nation. I have forgiven him and he has proven his mettle. He has made sacrifices,” he told the crush of media in his driveway.
“He has struggled and worked indefatigably hard together. He has now supported the reform agenda. He has facilitated even my release.”
Latent divisions?
But less than a week earlier, as Mahathir waited determinedly at the Royal Palace to be sworn in, beneath the Alliance’s press room at the Sheraton, tea-drinking MPs admitted not everyone had forgiven him. There are still many who are angry about what he’s done to Mr Anwar, one told me quietly.
Does that mean there could be a split in the new government? I asked. The answer: “We’ll see.”
The Alliance - now no longer in opposition - is under no illusion that corruption has now been eliminated. Mr Anwar's party - the Parti Keadilan Rakyat, or the Justice Party - runs its own re-education programmes to combat a deeply entrenched system of patronage and enrichment.
“It’s so ingrained,” one MP involved with the programme said, “we have to almost start over.”
“But there’s a new generation now, and as they rise, it will be weeded out.”
Still - amid all of the newfound hope - there remains a pervasive incredulity that #MalaysiaBaru - a New Malaysia - can be created overnight.
Outside Najib Razak’s home in the early hours of Thursday morning, as news spread on WhatsApp of the raids on his house and rumours of an impending arrest, Malaysians gathered in the street.
Alongside the police barricade, taking selfies in their nightgowns, they’re aware that whatever comes next, this is a turning point for their country, and a moment to bear witness to history in the making.
