PKR de facto leader's new biography 'The Evolution of a Muslim Democract: The Life of Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim' is not on sale at MPH bookstores, which are wholly owned by business tycoon Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary.

MPH Bookstores Malaysia confirmed to Malaysiakini that no stock of the biography, published by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, have been made available nationwide at any of its bookstores.

However, it did not provide the reasons behind the book’s absence from their shelves.

Checks showed that it is on the bookshelves of other rival bookstores, such as Borders and Kinokuniya.

"Sorry to inform you that we don't have information regarding the future availability of this particular title," MPH told Malaysiakini in an email response to its queries on the book.

The MPH Online website still lists the book, priced at RM49.90, but the local delivery has been declared as “out of print”.

A member of the public had complained about its non-availability  last week.

Malaysiakini confirmed this with a check at the MPH store in MidValley Megamall on Feb 5, where staffers said that the book was not available at that particular store, though they were unable to say if the same applied to all branches.

The book is authored by Charles Allers, an academic from the United States who holds a doctorate in Islamic Studies.

The 345-page book was published on Oct 18, last year, and has been made available in Malaysia since this January.

Syed Mokhtar acquired the MPH Group through his subsidiary Jalinan Inspirasi Sdn Bhd in 2002, and maintains a 100 percent stake in the company.

Additional reporting by Farah Noor Samat.