The new leadership of the all-powerful ruling Umno has closed ranks before an annual congress next week, banishing former prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim to the opposition wilderness.

Senior cabinet members, from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi down, have made it clear that there is no room for Anwar in the only party which would give him any real chance of reviving his ambitions to lead the country.

Abdullah, who took over when Dr Mahathir Mohamad retired after 22 years in power last October, is consolidating his power within Umno and protecting the hierarchy from any potential challenge by the popular former deputy premier.

"I don't think Umno members should accept (Anwar) to return to Umno because we have already established a party structure and we have established (a leadership) lineup," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today.

"His release is not a threat to us nor will it create new dynamics in Umno. He is in the opposition and we should treat him as such."

Was there a deal?

The fact that the Umno leadership continues to address the issue is a tribute to Anwar's past and future role in political life, particularly as he is banned from holding public office for the next four years.

Anwar was released earlier this month after six years in jail on a charge of corruption, but as a convicted criminal he is not allowed to stand for any elected or party post until 2008.

"There is a lot of concern over what will be the effect (of Anwar's release)," said Syed Hamid. "A lot of party members just wanted reassurance to know if this was related to the legal process or was there a political deal. There was no deal."

At the Umno party congress, which starts on Thursday next week, elections will be held for the top positions in an organisation which has headed the ruling coalition in this country since independence from Britain in 1957.

In Umno's traditional hierarchy, the president of the party is invariably the prime minister. His deputy in the party and in government - the post Anwar held until being sacked and jailed in 1998 - is seen as the heir-apparent.

Abdullah and his deputy Najib Razak will be unopposed at the congress, but seven party stalwarts are fighting for three vice-president posts. None of them, settling in after the long Mahathir years, would like to face competition from Anwar.

Courted by the opposition

But while he is not wanted in the ruling party, the opposition is keen to enlist his services. Anwar's natural home would be the Parti Keadilan Rakyat, which was set up after his arrest and is headed by his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

But he is also being courted by the fundamentalist Islamic party PAS, which wants to turn secular Malaysia into a theocratic state. Two PAS leaders, including the president Abdul Hadi Awang, visited Anwar in Germany, where he is recovering from back surgery.

The main parliamentary opposition, the DAP, has urged the king to grant Anwar a pardon so that he can immediately return to active politics.

Anwar will be eligible to stand for parliament in the next elections, due in 2009, unless they are called early. But with the ruling coalition holding 90 percent of the seats in parliament, his chances of regaining his position as a prime ministerial contender outside the Umno fold appear bleak.