A Charming and Principled Anwar Ibrahim Addresses the FCCT

Anwar Ibrahim eats with FCCT members prior to his commentary

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. February 14, 2012. Anwar Ibrahim is a big name in this part of the world. He’s the leading opposition figure in Malaysia, where he heads a coalition which is trying the loose the hold that the ruling UNMO party has held for decades in Malaysia. Anwar himself was slated to be the prime minister, but he broke ranks with the Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s former strongman prime minister, and since then, the UNMO has arrested and jailed Anwar on trumped up charges at least twice.

With elections probably imminent, Anwar will again challenge the ruling UNMO party, but I don’t think that anyone believes that, in Malaysia’s sham democracy, he has much of a chance of becoming prime minister. Still, if he can keep out of jail and continue to present an alternative to UNMO, that in and of itself, could help Malaysia to become a truly democratic state.

Anwar has been a politician all of his life, first as a student leader, and he is charming and convincing. I think the sense of the audience at the FCCT was one of support for him, but, then again, Anwar may be better-known and better-liked abroad than he is in Malaysia.