INTERVIEW For a brief and jarring moment, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and Utusan Malaysia’s ‘Awang Selamat’ appeared to speak with one voice.

The day before Malaysiakini met with Anwar, Awang - the pseudonym used by Utusan editors in opinion pieces - had sniped at him for ‘manipulating the democratic system for his own gains’ through the so-called 'Kajang Move'.

Awang had asked in an article pegged to the forthcoming Kajang by-election: ‘Will everything be sodomised - people, systems and values?’

The play was on 'sodomy', a reference to Anwar's lengthy trial that ended in his acquittal, although the government’s appeal against the verdict will be heard later this month.

Anwar himself is not squeamish about using the word, which has plagued him since 1998. In fact, he uses it in the same crudeness and aplomb.

“The by-election before, sodomy case. This by-election, sodomy case. The whole country is being sodomised!” he says, scowling, his index fingers making circles in the air.

After 15 years of being dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct, Anwar said he has learnt to make his peace with the situation and probably thinks about it less than his detractors.

“The only time I really focused on it was when I was in prison, because I had nothing to do anyway ... I don't anymore,” he said.

Awang Selamat and like-minded critics have said that the forthcoming by-election is aimed at diverting attention from the appellate process.

If the Court of Appeal overturns the verdict and its decision is upheld by the Federal Court, Anwar could end up in jail again.

Shouldn't this weigh heavy on the mind of the man who is now looking at becoming Selangor menteri besar, and later prime minister?

“No. I have overcome that fear, thank God, thank Allah.”

Just as he is no longer fearful of prison, Anwar said there is little that the BN can throw at him in the by-election that he has not seen before.

For that matter, even voters - who have had to endure front-page coverage of the life-span of a sperm in a man's peri-anal region - must have heard enough.  

“People have virtually decided. For 15 years, they have not decided either way? They have.”

Fifteen years of being public enemy Number One, as Anwar has been dubbed in certain news outlets, makes the outrage over PKR's move to trigger a by-election - and the anticipated sex and smut attacks - pale in comparison.

“So the by-election is not that difficult I tell you,” he said, laughing.

Yet, he baulks at going so far as to declare that he can better incumbent Lee Chin Cheh's (right) close to 7,000-vote majority.

Anwar said he had cut his teeth on old-school politics, which means “never taking things for granted” and “visit(ing) every single mosque and surau and temple... and every market in Kajang”.

Politicians are ‘crazy’

In a parallel universe, the 67-year-old Anwar is enjoying his retirement, singing Hindi movie anthems to his grandchildren, as he is fond of doing.

But he remains a politician who, in spite of it all, is still considered to be at his prime, waking up before the crack of dawn to kick off campaigns with morning tazkirah with the people of Kajang.

On cue, he talks about his meeting with the late South African leader Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in 2004.

Anwar said his children, who were with him, cried at the sight of Mandela, moving the great man to question the sanity of politicians - leaving family, children, for the sake of a cause.

“Yeah, I said, we are crazy, and we all laughed. You must be crazy actually, but this has to work because as a country we are declining. Not only in the economy, but also in terms of the fabric of the multiracial society of this country. I think we have to do it.”

This touching tale reflects the highs and lows of Anwar's life - one day in a jail cell, the next day meeting Mandela, a decade later a man that half the nation has backed to become prime minister.

Observers will soon enough point out that this is also a hallmark of his communication style - dropping personal anecdotes which have the right tone, the right message.

This time, it is Anwar, the family man who sacrificed much for his country, and is still putting his energy into the greater cause.

It is a romantic notion, but is it one that he hopes (knows?) can muffle the protest over what many see as a forced by-election to solve a Selangor PKR feud and oust a mostly-loved menteri besar in the person of Abdul Khalid Ibrahim ( right )?

Anwar's stories of Khalid’s magnanimity in insisting on becoming election director for the by-election are touching.

The message is this: If Khalid himself, by Anwar's account, feels “he owes it to the state” to support the by-election, then why should those who back him feel otherwise?

And in any case, it's not as if Khalid will be cast aside should there be a change at the top. No one doubts his skills in economic management, and Anwar and Khalid could still swap roles, with Khalid taking Anwar's post as state economic advisor.

“Only he will be the real economic advisor!” Anwar says candidly, as if admitting that the post for which he is paid a token RM1 per month by the state government is just a political gimmick.

Is the feud really over?

Khalid's appointment as Kajang polls chief, made official yesterday though not publicly announced as per convention, is strange as he has been accused of not having “political acumen”.

Curiouser and curiouser still, Khalid is taking a post conventionally held by the state party chief Azmin Ali ( left ), his rival who incidentally is also party election director.

Is the party feud actually over? Does Anwar foresee problems between the duo later on? Anwar's answer is "Yes" and "No" respectively.

The BN is likely to plant such doubts in the minds of voters, but there is also the question of whether Anwar's decision to parachute into Kajang will put his daughter Nurul Izzah in front of the political firing squad.

Just a few weeks ago, news of her divorce application had led to treacherous gossip. As PKR vice-president and Lembah Pantai MP, she can be certain that this will be used in smut campaigns against the party in the Kajang campaign.

Anwar volunteers an answer: "So now the attack on Nurul Izzah. As you know Nurul Izzah had to go through a political phase.

"Of course, as her father, I feel (for her). Studies, work, it was tough. I wish her well in all these problems.

“We were all in Phuket - Izzah and (her husband Raja Ahmad) Shahrir (Iskandar) and all.

"They (had) settled it and we all went to Phuket to celebrate. We came back and suddenly there was this news (of the divorce)."

He slaps his forehead at the end of the sentence, an exaggerated act which comes off almost comical, almost slapstick.

Anwar is one part shrewd politician, one part family man, another part national leader, and in the mix of it all, an entertainer.

No doubt about it, the people of Kajang are in for a show.

THE ANWAR INTERVIEW

Part 1: 'There was never an Azmin-Khalid deal'

Part 2: Anwar: What I would do as Selangor MB

Part 3: 'Smut and sodomy, what have I not seen?'

Part 4: 'Pakatan's national reconciliation not about unity gov't'

Interview by Steven Gan, RK Anand and Aidila Razak.