The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition triumphantly celebrated its 50th anniversary at the weekend, setting its sights on another election victory, while the man once tipped as the next prime minister quietly marked his fifth year in jail.

As outgoing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad exhorted thousands at a rally to throw their weight behind his nominated successor, deputy premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, it was clear that former heir-apparent Anwar Ibrahim has become the forgotten man of Malaysian politics.

Anwar's arrest five years ago, shortly after he was sacked by Mahathir and replaced by Abdullah, sparked massive street demonstrations by his supporters but the anniversary passed yesterday with barely a murmur.

"It's sad to note that after five years, Anwar has become a forgotten issue. I believe much of society has forgotten about an important episode of our history," said Cynthia Gabriel, executive director of rights group Suaram.

Self-censorship

But Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who now leads an opposition party, said she believes he still has support.

"He has never really left people's minds and hearts," she told AFP after visiting him in prison on Saturday. "People come up to me all the time and tell me they haven't forgotten him.

"It's just that sometimes they tend to practice self-censorship with the government's intimidating tactics."

She said she believed her husband's continued imprisonment was an indication that the government still saw him as a political threat.

"They were saying, what with it being the coalition's 50th anniversary, that they were a strong party, successful and so on... well if so, then why not just release him?"

Anwar, 56, claims he was sacked and later jailed on trumped up charges of sodomy and corruption to prevent a political challenge to Mahathir. He still has at least another six years of his sentence to serve.

Wan Azizah's Keadilan is part of Barisan Alternatif, an alternative front of opposition parties that aims to make a dent in the ruling coalition's grip on power in the upcoming polls.

Anniversary rally

Elections are due only by November next year, but with Mahathir stepping down at the end of next month they are expected to be held earlier to allow Abdullah to capitalise on the coalition's current strength and gain his own stamp of approval.

At the coalition's anniversary rally yesterday, Mahathir scorned the opposition alliance as a "synthetic alternative", reserving his most bitter attacks for the leading member, the hardline Islamic party PAS.

Demonstrating once again that the next election will be a fight for the soul of Malaysia's Muslim majority, Mahathir said of PAS: "They offer promises of paradise if you vote for them and their so-called Islamic state. But how do you know you will go to heaven if you vote for them?"

Mahathir has warned recently of the growing popularity of Islamic parties around the world in the face of the West's war on terrorism, which is often perceived as a war on Islam.

As for Anwar, analysts say it is unlikely that he will be freed soon.

"It doesn't look like Anwar will be released even with Mahathir retiring soon and a transition of power because it is only a change of individuals and not of a system or regime," said Suaram's Gabriel.

"He is still a very important equation in the power play in the country. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't be in jail." - AFP