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 nave 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.