Jailed Malaysian opposition leader freed to take power

ANWAR IBRAHIM, the long-time Malaysian opposition figurehead, walked free from jail yesterday, paving the way for him to eventually become prime minister.

Mr Anwar, 70, emerged to a rapturous welcome before heading to an audience with King Sultan Muhammad V, who had granted him a pardon after an opposition alliance routed the country’s ruling coalition in a shock election result last week.

He was imprisoned for sodomy in 2015 during the rule of Najib Razak, the now ousted prime minister. The opposition leader and his People’s Justice Party claimed the charges had been fabricated to curb their rise after making historic gains in the 2013 elections.

Mr Anwar had been due to be released in June, but his freedom was expedited after an election win by the Pakatan Harapan coalition led by Mr Anwar’s former political nemesis, Mahathir Mohamad, 92. In a bizarre twist, Mr Anwar’s party joined forces with Dr Mahathir, a former authoritarian prime minister who held power for 22 years, to defeat the six-decade rule of Mr Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition.

Mr Anwar was once heir-apparent to the premiership until Dr Mahathir sacked him in 1998. He was subsequently jailed in a case that he claimed was politically motivated and which the US denounced a “show trial.”

Throughout the fractious campaign, Dr Mahathir pledged to hand over the top job to Mr Anwar after his release. He has since confirmed his intention to do so, although he expects to remain in power for one or two years first.

“I regret that he was jailed but that is not something that I did. It was the court,” Dr Mahathir said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in April. “He seems to be a very charismatic leader. He can gather a lot of support.”

Ahead of his release, Mr Anwar told Australia’s Fairfax Media that a new “golden era” was afoot.

♦police converged on the home of ousted prime minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Local media suggested they were conducting raids related to the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal. Mr Razak has already been barred from leaving the country.