In response to K Temoc's letter entitled PKR needs to think outside Anwar-centric box , I wish to emphatically state that Anwar Ibrahim remains as the most effective icon for the opposition fraternity which is struggling to articulate its role under heavy oppression by the Umno-led BN in Malaysia.

Firstly, being a ex-Umno Malay, Anwar edges all the other opposition leaders with the length and depth of his experience in Umno politics, his six years of incarceration as a persecuted Malay leader, coupled with his international standing. This puts Anwar Ibrahim as the best opposition leader for Malaysia.

Those who perceive Anwar as a spent force are probably not rational critics and most likely they are defending those anti-Anwar elements in Umno who dread the thought of Anwar coming back to power.

The central issue is not whether Anwar can become the prime minister but his impact on Malaysian politics. The very act of his virulent attacks on corrupt politicians and the corruption of democracy by Umno-BN itself has far reaching implications on the political culture of Malaysia which, to every fair minded observer is wrought with treachery.

It is the battle that Anwar is forging against a irreversible corrupt political system that makes him a political hero. The audacious act by Anwar in defying the threats of a rogue democracy is what that is capturing the imagination of the fair-minded segment of Malaysian society.

There is currently no other leader who can marshal the forces of justice and arrest the growth of Umno-BN's political corruption. Malaysians must bravely stand behind Anwar to form a bulwark of an opposition force to at least slow down the degeneration of political culture in Malaysia.