Former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's final attempt to clear his name will be known tomorrow when the Federal Court decides whether or not to review his conviction for corrupt practices.

If the country's highest court decides to quash his conviction and six-year jail term, Anwar will be able to immediately return to politics.

If he fails, he will not be sent back to jail as he completed serving his time on April 14. However, he will be barred from holding any political position for five years from the date of completion of his jail term.

Anwar who was freed of sodomy charges on Sept 2 is currently in Munich receiving treatment following surgery to correct a slipped disc .

His former private secretary Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor said there is a good chance of Malaysians seeing Anwar returning to politics, and expressed confidence the outcome of the judicial review would be a positive one.

"After all, this case was linked with the sodomy case which has since been rejected. We believe that the judges handling the case are credible persons with an impeccable record of consistent good judgments. So things look good," he said when contacted.

Umno decision

However, he did not hide the worry that recent news on Umno's dismissal of Anwar's possible return to the party could prevent the court from delivering a fair judgment.

"The recent development may have caused some damage. Of late, newspapers have been reporting on Anwar's chances of returning to Umno. This is puzzling considering that Anwar has never mentioned his wish to return to Umno," said Ezam who is also Parti Keadilan Nasional Youth chief.

"We have a feeling that the upcoming Umno general assembly is the reason why the issue is being highlighted at this point. We believe that some factions in Umno are scared that if tomorrow's decision goes in Anwar's favour, their (party) positions would be threatened."

He said he suspected that the reports are part of "pre-emptive measures" taken by Umno leaders who are not pleased with Anwar being freed.

"Even Pak Lah (Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) was cornered into making uncomfortable statements on the issue. So we are afraid that this may affect the court's decision," he said.

'Promising' outlook

Equally confident that Anwar would succeed in the judicial review was his lead ounsel Christopher Fernando who said the outcome looks promising.

"His chances are good. As we have argued, evidence that was in (his) favour was suppressed, so the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court were deprived of the evidence. Our case is strengthened by the fresh evidence we procured," he said.

However, he cautioned that the decision may not be conclusive as the court may decide to take in the fresh evidence or direct the High Court to record this to be considered with other arguments.

"They may also order another panel of judges to re-open the appeal," he said, outlining the possible scenarios.

National Human Rights Society (Hakam) deputy president Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the decision would depend on whether the court can find exceptional circumstances to review the case.

"I cannot speculate as what the decision will be. However, I must say that Anwar's defence team was not in a position to fully explore issues that arose from evidence at the High Court level," he said.

"I trust that the court will inquire into that evidence and come to the appropriate finding in order to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done."