In his letter 'Time for Pak Lah to right past wrongs', John R Malott asks Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to, inter alia, free former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. Many will no doubt join in this call. I am not a soothsayer but I firmly believe that Anwar will be freed after the next general election, when Barisan Nasional (BN) wins with a landslide victory.

Those who expect Abdullah to release - by way of a royal pardon - Anwar before the polls are na�ve in extremis. An Anwar Ibrahim running around the country making speeches before the polls would rock the very foundation of BN (and, in my view, the country). Once BN is back with a larger majority, Anwar will be welcomed back to the Umno fold, slowly rehabilitated and might yet, one day, become prime minister.