The government, judiciary and the Election Commission can call it coincidence but for Malaysians who supported the call for reforms initiated by the jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters known as the reformasi group, judgement day tomorrow, July 10, is seen as 'politically motivated'.

Their justification is simple. With Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's recent melodramatic notice of resignation (16-month), Barisan Nasional is going all out, and perhaps at all costs, to capture Anak Bukit and Pendang seat in Kedah vacated by the death of opposition leader Mohd Fadzil Noor, to prove that Umno has indeed regained the support of the Malays.

In my opinion, it's not absurd to claim that by and large, the reformasi group, though of different parties, will support PAS candidates in the above by-elections.

Like PRM, Keadilan (the party to which most if not all of the reformasi group belong) is a member of the Barisan Alternatif coalition led by PAS.

As such, with events of such importance taking place on the same day, the reformasi group must be divided between throwing their support for Anwar at the courthouse and to 'escort' BA's candidates to their respective nomination centres in Kedah.

Like many others, I travelled to places like Sanggang and Ketari in Pahang for the last by-elections as a matter of support for the BA. I will surely miss being at Pendang and Anak Bukit.

This development is certainly advantageous to BN, at least, in term of moral support as many of the reformasi group will be at and around the courthouse (subject to 'rules and procedures' by the police) in the federal capital on July 10.

By now, many already have the impression that the timing of the two events on July 10 is well 'coordinated' and aimed for the benefit of the ruling party.

There can be denial after denial, from one minister to the next, so long as circumstances like this continues, there is no guarantee that rakyat will stop speculating and questioning the 'independence' of the relevant authorities.

We will wait for Anwar's verdict by the Federal Court (his last legal avenue) with suspense, and at the same time pray that the by-elections in Kedah are incident-free and most importantly, phantom (voters) free.