Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should not harbour any fear in releasing Anwar Ibrahim given his unprecedented mandate in the recent general election and another expected big mandate in the upcoming Umno's annual general assembly, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.

"At the moment Anwar is resigned to the fact that he is a political prisoner, since the powers-that-be believes that to free Anwar would create instability."

"But you can never know, because if they release Anwar, then everything will be seen as Pak Lah undoing the past mistakes, and therefore I think that will give him a better chance of handling this (issue)."

"I hope and pray that he would view it this way as he has obtained a big mandate in the elections and this would probably also propel him to lead Umno better," Wan Azizah told malaysiakini in a recent interview.

Anwar's influence

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad sacked his deputy Anwar in 1998. The latter, however, had claimed that the charges instituted against him were trumped up to prevent him from making a challenge for the premiership but this has been denied.

Anwar has already been in jail for more than five years, having completed a sentence for a corruption conviction while the Federal Court is yet to rule on his nine-year sodomy conviction appeal.

His latest bid for bail pending the outcome of his sodomy conviction appeal was rejected by the land's highest court last month.

Wan Azizah has been leading the opposition party Keadilan since 1999. Last year, the party merged with Parti Rakyat Malaysia, and the new entity is known as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

The soft-spoken lady is the only representative from her party in Parliament currently. Nevertheless, she is not alone.

Apart from her counterparts in DAP and PAS, Wan Azizah was often seen greeted by Umno politicians or supporters whenever she attends Parliament.

She felt that whatever influence Anwar still wields within Umno was a factor that could make the powers-that-be to feel 'insecure' in releasing her husband,

Umno assembly

On the upcoming Umno general assembly in September, Wan Azizah opined that it would not make any changes on Anwar's situation even though there are opinions that if Abdullah secure another mandate, it could heighten Anwar's hope for freedom.

"Pak Lah had already done well in the general election, it is an excuse that they used to make us keep on thinking along that way. Anwar told me not to be too hopeful," she said.

Recently, the Keadilan president was appointed to be the deputy chief for a cross-party Malaysian parliamentary caucus on Burma, in which the main agenda is to push for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

She admitted that her appointment was "ironic" as she has to struggle for the release of Suu Kyi while Anwar still remains in jail.

"(However) I want to be there to remind people that Anwar is still very much a political prisoner. That's why when Nazri (Abdul Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department) suggested my name, I said ok.

"I think it does have an effect when I am in the caucus because people will say Suu Kyi has not been released, so is Anwar Ibrahim, so the link is there."

Restructuring Keadilan

Meanwhile, she said Keadilan is undergoing a restructuring process including streamlining the transitional 62-supreme council line-up after the Registrar of Societies approved the new entity recently.

Wan Azizah said that she and deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali will continue to lead the party and she did not foresee power struggles among members for the posts open for contest in the first congress expected in September or October this year.

She also expressed optimism on the election petition filed against her parliamentary constituency, Permatang Pauh by the defeated BN candidate, Pirdaus Ismail.

However she grumbled that the election petition has kept her occupied during the two-week school holidays which she needed to spend with her children.

She said she was bogged down with the "daily things and problems of that election petition", including consultations with lawyers and looking for witnesses.

Anwar and Wan Azizah have five daughters and one son, aged from 12 to 24.

"My daughters and son are still young but they have to face all these challenges," the 52-year-old mother lamented.