Sacked former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced plans to sue his former mentor Dr Mahathir Mohamad for defamation for calling him a "sodomiser" and "gay".

These are the main facts of the case. If Anwar pursues the legal proceedings and Mahathir refuses to settle it out of court, a battle royale between the two leading political player in the country is in store for the nation to watch.

For Anwar, he hopes that if he can win the case, he would be able to finally lay to rest the "sodomy" ghost which haunts him, redeem himself and probably dream of making a political comeback in Malaysia with a bang.

For Mahathir, it is about defending his integrity and that he had acted in the interest of the nation when he removed Anwar from his deputy premiership. Everything seems to be cut and dry. It seems to be a direct battle between Anwar and Mahathir, both out of the government and without significant political vehicles to shout from.

However, lest Anwar forgets, his downfall did not just involve Mahathir. The trial saw the testimonies of several prosecution witnesses including those who are now in positions of power. They include Musa Hassan (currently the deputy IGP and effectively the de facto IGP) and Hanif Omar (former IGP and a well-respected personality).

The present attorney-general Gani Patail was a member of the prosecution team. The present Umno leadership may try to keep out of the whole situation but they are as involved in the whole episode as Mahathir was.

In fact, the present party president and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the main beneficiary of Anwar's sacking. While the sacking of Anwar as the deputy prime minister was the prerogative of Mahathir as the then prime minister, Anwar's removal as deputy Umno president was a unanimous decision made by the Umno supreme council.

Pak Lah, his deputy Najib Razak, vice-president Muhyiddin Yassin, supreme council members including Zahid Hamidi and most of the state Umno liaison chiefs who are mentris besar, were all involved in the sacking of Anwar as the deputy Umno president in 1998.

Are they now going to say that they did not know why they voted for the removal of Anwar? Are they going to say that they did it because Mahathir demanded such an action against Anwar?

If that is what they are going to say, then they obviously have neither the integrity nor the credibility to be our leaders. Or were they that nave to be misled by a baseless accusation?

It is doubtful that the present Umno leadership is going to denounce its 1998 decision to expel Anwar and now claim that he is not a sodomist.

That being the case, Anwar is again going to take on top civil servants and the whole Umno leadership.

In short, it is not just an Anwar vs Mahathir issue. There are a lot more people involved who have gained much from the Anwar dismissal. Mahathir, in fact, only earned the ire of the reformasi supporters.