In a very short period of time of his new found freedom, Anwar Ibrahim is back on track in search of his own destiny and identity in Malaysian mainstream politics for which he was almost totally excluded during the six years of his imprisonment.

As a fellow Malaysian and a personal friend of Anwar, I am duty bound to comment on his latest political agenda. I note, however, that the mainstream newspapers - often regarded as pro-government media - do not provide any reasonable coverage on Anwar.

This despite the fact that he is a national political icon, albeit one that is not an elected MP or state assemblyman and holds no office in a political party.

Personally, I do not see the need to black out Anwar' views in the major newspapers, which I believe are not under the directive of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or whoever else behind the scene.

Having said that, and in line with my political principle to support whoever is mandated to power by the people through our democratic process, I am not against the current Barisan Nasional administration under Pak Lah whom I have known since the 70s.

God willing, if Anwar is rehabilitated through the political process, I will be the first one to voice my support for him along with other liberal-thinking Malaysians.

I have been a loyalist to many of my fellow political godfathers from the late Hussein Onn to Dr Mahathir Mohamad and now to our beloved Pak Lah, who has been entrusted to lead with the absolute endorsement of the people.

In the process of the unseen political struggles between Mahathir and Anwar in 1998, I was politically implicated both in Malaysia as well as when I was serving my country in Washington DC. I hope that this unfortunate episode is water under the bridge and those responsible for the misdeeds will be answerable to God Almighty in the life hereafter.

In the past few weeks, many have raised certain questionable doubts about Anwar's political belief and his convictions. It is interesting to note that the government has yet to comment on Anwar's media onslaught in the process of pushing for his political, economic and social reforms.

In particular, I wish to refer to Anwar's visit to Pak Lah's Hari Raya open house in Kepala Batas, which has been misconstrued. I believe that other national leaders, such as Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, who was seated along with Pak Lah at the function, would have known the complete interaction between Pak Lah and Anwar.

We must also respect Pak Lah's statement made in reference to Anwar's Hari Raya visit, in which the latter was welcomed like any other fellow Malaysian in accordance with our open house tradition.

I believe that Anwar's speaking engagements and other political, economic and social appointments will be numerous and hopefully, we as Malaysians, will eventually know his future political moves.

I do not believe that Anwar will allow public perception to influence his political agenda, and as such it is not constructive to speculate that Anwar will return to Umno or work with Pak Lah within the BN leadership.

This is a dangerous and unhealthy political assumption which may damage the political goodwill and loyalties between the various leaders in Umno as well as BN. If a political rift materialised as speculated between Pak Lah and Najib, the whole country's political and government system will be jeopardised with uncertainties which will destabilise the nation.

In conclusion, let us not play political games for the survival of individuals and allow the nation and people to suffer as a result of political greed and vengeance. Anwar has the right to decide if he wants to return to the fold of Umno provided he is still acceptable to the majority of its members.

He also has the right to decide if he want to enhance the political will and power of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and other opposition parties. Anwar is politically matured and nobody should dictate his own political future for now or in the near future.