newsmaker n. One whose actions consistently make news headlines, who effects the course of public discourse and creates an impact in Malaysian politics, for better or worse.

Choosing the Newsmaker of the Year was not easy. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had undeniably made front-page headlines regularly. But after hours of discussion, malaysiakini picked de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim as the man.

Rais will be remembered for his views and flamboyant quotes on a wide spectrum of hot topics this year. A man of high-falutin’ jargon, he has spoken from the legal perspective on terrorism, security laws, the appointment of the new attorney-general and the Islamic state - to name a few.

Love him or loathe him, Rais is a rare, gutsy, vocal and well-read cabinet member who dares speak his mind - even if it may change radically on occasion. To assume that Rais had said things just to toe the line is therefore not only clumsy but does the man a disservice.

Rais, once a leader of the Umno splinter group Semangat 46, returned to the former’s fold in 1996.

From a man who once stood proud against the ruling might of Mahathir, Rais has since become a chief ally and gained increasing prominence as a minister in the prime minister’s department.

Thesis dismissed

During an interview with malaysiakini late last year, Rais promised reforms in the judicial system and a review of laws pertaining to national security and public order such as the Internal Security Act, the Police Act, the 1969 Public Order Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

Following the ISA arrests in April this year, however, Rais made an about-turn with regard to his views on the ISA, drawing opposition fire.

While a leader with S46, Rais earned his doctorate with a thesis entitled Freedom Under the Executive Power in Malaysia in which he criticised excessive executive power and the use of the ISA. The thesis was later published as a book and circulated among local academics.

Rais, in June, dismissed his thesis as “merely an academic exercise” and that his writings should not be held against him.

Recently, in face the attorney-general’s resignation for ‘health reasons’, Rais contributed to a constitutional controversy when he announced the appointment of senior deputy public prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail as the new AG without obtaining royal consent, which only came later.

Confronted by reporters then, he said, “It is for the government to do its work. What was just announced was that the government was in favour of the appointment and the rigmarole had to be done.”

ISA for Osama

A man confident of his convictions, Rais does not back down when slammed by his critics, be they high-ranking officials, opposition leaders or lower-ranking politicians.

When the Dewan Rakyat speaker himself expressed doubts over the validity of Abdul Gani’s appointment, Rais unhesitatingly said that the speaker was wrong. But nevertheless, when opposition member of Parliament Fong Po Kuan questioned the speaker’s decision on a separate matter, Rais pushed for her suspension .

It would seem that justice under Rais appears to be a matter of ambiguous interpretations.

Soon after the premier declaring Malaysia an Islamic state, Rais was quick to justify it with the constitution, going as far as to dismiss the definition adopted by Malaysia’s founding father, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, that the country is secular.

When Mahathir criticised the United States’ retaliation against Afghanistan which allegedly harboured Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement, Rais went on record saying the US was a “terrorising state” and it should be hauled before the International Court of Justice to face charges of killing innocent Afghans.

'No role in Umno'

Leaping at the opportunity to defend the government’s use of the ISA, Rais claimed that even the West saw merits in the concept of Malaysia’s pre-emptive measures and “wanted to learn from the government”.

“Even Osama should be detained under such a preventive law until proof of his crime can be found,” said Rais.

He went on to say that the existing security laws in Malaysia are “less controversial and extreme” when compared with newly drafted US anti-terrorism laws.

In January, when asked if he will contest for any position in Umno, Rais told malaysiakini that there would be no role for him within the Malay party as long as money politics remained.

That malaise is still glaringly visible but Umno’s 2003 party elections are not that far off. Will the inscrutable Rais surprise us again?