Six years after Anwar Ibrahim was transformed from deputy prime minister to prisoner, his wife-turned-politician Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is waging a lonely battle to keep his cause alive.

The soft-spoken Wan Azizah, 51, was thrust into the political limelight when the charismatic Anwar was sacked by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 and sentenced to 15 years in jail for corruption and sodomy.

Thousands took to the streets to demonstrate their support for Anwar after he was fired, and Wan Azizah's newly-established Keadilan party took five parliamentary seats in the1999 election.