Many say Keadilan is about one man. It is true in some sense. I believe the party's inception was because of one man, but I am further impressed by the vision described by the deputy president of the newly merged Parti Keadilan Rakyat - a vision of a new Malaysia for all Malaysians, equality and justice for all. If anyone has the time, Dr Syed Husin Ali's speech on that celebration day when the two parties merged is worth a read.

For those who think Keadilan is as shallow as being concerned with only one man, let me say that this one man - who now resides in Sungai Buloh prison - has revealed the true face of the ruling elite by fighting back.

He showed that the police could go overboard in arresting an unarmed man by storming his house and dragging him out shamelessly in front of his family. That the ex-police chief in Bukit Aman (Peace Hill) and God knows who else could abuse their power by beating him.

Anwar Ibrahim was a high profile politician and thus the world had insisted that he be presented in court. No such luck for the ordinary Malaysians who face the wrath of the Polis Diraja Malaysia. You may not even get a proper post-mortem to find out why your brother or loved one suddenly died while in police custody.

Anwar also showed that the police would seek to implicate his friends by detaining them under a draconian law, humiliating them, submitting them to our colonial master's evil techniques, which the police now call "turning over", in order to secure a confession that they were sodomised by him. (Munawar Anees' affidavit is available on the Internet).

Anwar showed that the prime minister, in his anger and rage, switched off all electrical power and water supply to the official deputy prime minister's home the evening he was sacked. Now that was real power - to be able to induce Tenaga Nasional and the Water Department to act at such lightning speed.

That the prosecutors put a date of the offence at a time when the infamous Tivoli Villa was not completed and subsequently changed the date of offence thrice when they realised their folly. That the victim of the alleged sodomy had clearly and plainly said that he was never sodomised, and this had no bearing on the case. That the judges and prosecutors changed the goal posts several times throughout the hearings by ruling key defence witnesses irrelevant.

My point is that we saw a glimpse of the entire government machinery and power wielded in the hands of the prime minister through the Anwar's episode. If Anwar had not stood up for what he believed to be right, we would never see the rot and concentration of power in the ruling elite. The general public would not have the knowledge of the extent of graft and corruption and the abuse of government agencies as we know today.

So if Keadilan is about one man, it is about what this one man represents.