One may need to betray one’s conscience just to be harsh with Anwar Ibrahim, an unenviable position that I often find myself in.

On one hand, I am acutely mindful of the sufferings and persecution that Anwar and his family have been going through since 1998, which no doubt explains why the man may not be able to focus fully on playing a cohesive role within the opposition front.

On the other, Umno has been striking back with not only persecutory lawsuits against Pakatan Rakyat leaders but also the Islamic state issue to drive a wedge between PAS and DAP, with a clear intention of eventually splitting up the most successful opposition pact Malaysia has seen in half a century. Anwar has been instrumental in bringing the parties of various ideologies together and he is perhaps most needed in a crisis like this.

Can he continue to provide further leadership as many expect?

Credit ought to be given where it is due. Anwar did choose to defy Mahathir Mohamad when the autocrat had wanted him to go quietly after sacking him in 1998. In doing so, Anwar gave rise to a popular movement nearly unseen since the 1970s.

Although many have been quick to accuse him of being a political chameleon based on his chequered past, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had a point when she told Charles Allers, author of Anwar’s political biography Anwar Ibrahim: Evolution of a Muslim Democrat , that no chameleon would opt for jail.

For that alone, one should not hesitate to appreciate that Anwar did make an audacious choice and thereby effect an epochal change in Malaysian politics.

After he was released from jail in 2004, Anwar spent the next few years working on the ground and on repairing the alternative front that had been broken due to the Islamic state dispute in 2001. Just as many were writing him off, his pragmatism paid off when the opposition made historic gains in the 2008 general election. Being the key architect of the seismic change, Anwar did have the reason to be jubilant and ecstatic.

But not to be carried away as to lose one’s senses, I must say one deadly character flaw of Anwar’s is that he is prone to having his head turned by his own success, just as he was when his fortunes were on the rise as deputy prime minister in the early 1990s.

‘Anwar trusts too easily’

In the next few years, Anwar appeared to have devoted his energies to forcing out Umno rather than consolidating the support that the opposition had secured. He was also careless enough to have Saiful Bukhari Azlan around him and is still paying for his own folly. Perhaps as Allers has observed: Anwar trusts others too easily.

When a peaceful regime change failed to materialise a year ago, Anwar was so devastated that the entire opposition lost its direction, with its leaders dithering between boycotting the pseudo-parliamentary democracy and taking oaths. They chose the latter eventually.

But many have not lost sight of the fact that Umno won all because of cheating, gerrymandering and the immense resources that it has at its disposal; nothing else matters.

Would we be seeing a very different Malaysia had Pakatan Rakyat persisted in denying Umno’s legitimacy to rule by taking to the streets and boycotting Parliament and all the state assemblies? The stakes were indeed too high, especially considering that the opposition had kept Penang and Selangor with increased support.

But with the Umno-monopolised state bent on finishing the opposition off, what option does it leave us if not Pilihan Jalanraya ?

Then again, the main obstacle could come from Pakatan lawmakers who are perhaps too comfortable playing the role as designated by Umno, i.e. to seek change ‘within the system’.

Meanwhile, there may be a few good judges here and there but it is already clear to all that the entire Malaysian judiciary is rotten to the core and the rulings would most likely not be favourable to the people or the opposition whenever Umno’s survival is threatened, as evidenced by the speedy conviction of Anwar in Sodomy II!

And there are clowns such as Isma and Perkasa - outsourced by Umno - to create greater disarray and heighten the sense of insecurity on the part of everyone. The best thing to do with them is to ignore them, for the more people react, the closer they are to their sinister goals. Unfortunately, Malaysians are simply too easily agitated and end up lending credence to the court jester.

No, we don’t live in a democracy. A real democracy would not allow fascist groups to set the tone for state policy and the police to waste their precious time going after organisers of peaceful rallies by all means, but not the criminals.

I am not sure if yet another jail term for Anwar would indeed precipitate the simmering wrath into a new reform movement as so optimistically predicted by Hishamuddin Rais, but it is high time that Anwar will take some time to ponder on the possibilities of deconstructing the pseudo democracy created by Umno and endorsed by other democracies, America included.

Forget about the Islamic state issue; forget about removing the affirmative action policy. New discourse will not see the light of day so long as Umno stays in power, and it will continue to do so perhaps for decades to come if we remain happy to play by the rules of the game that it has laid down.

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.