COMMENT Make no mistake, the only hope for jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to ever taste freedom again is for the nascent Pakatan Harapan to win in the next general election. And then make arrangements for his pardon and release.

And this is something that his party, political allies and loyal followers need to beat into their heads, before they go off running on their errant crusades to seek his freedom via other means, either mundane or fantastic, while ignoring the only solution that they should be focusing on.

It was one year ago when a colleague of mine noted that "the road which leads to the Sungai Buloh Prison is called Jalan Harapan". Back then, he was writing about the incarceration of the former opposition leader.

Hope, he wrote, cannot be jailed at Jalan Harapan and reminded all that while Anwar is incarcerated within the detention facility, he is, in every sense of the word, still a 'tiger' and caged or otherwise, a tiger is still a tiger.

While my colleague was referring to Anwar's tenacity and capability, the equation of the former opposition leader to the king of the Malaysian jungle is apt, for he has proven to be just as dangerous as the beast that hunts in the forest.

Anwar has proved, again and again, that he has the capacity to hunt down his enemies in the 'forest' and that he knows all too well how to make use of the laws of the political jungle.

Too dangerous for the powers that be

And therein lies the rub: he is too dangerous and ambitious a person for the powers that be, to let loose, no matter what the equation is.

For those in the ruling party currently in power, having someone of Anwar's calibre, who can mount a real challenge to their leadership and truly give them a run for their money, is an obvious no-no.

Even the dissenting voices in the ruling party who are looking to overthrow the current leadership would perhaps not want Anwar to be free, since they do not want a change in government but fancy only a transition in leadership, so that they can take over and reap the benefits that those in power now enjoy.

Obviously, neither of them will want Anwar out of jail and therefore, no amount of international pressure or local campaign will sway or move them.

Even if they manage to put Anwar up as a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Peace, prevail on international bodies to call for the former opposition leader's release or get a million rakyat to sign any petition, the powers that be and the mainstream political establishment will not budge an inch.

No matter how many microphones that Amanah president Mohamad Sabu throws upon the stage, or birds that Anwar's wife and daughter release into the air (as when the Harapan leadership congregated at the prison on the night of Feb 9), all is for naught and only symbolic.

While it is commendable, and to their credit, for Anwar’s loyal friends and supporters to continue to press for his release, it is perhaps a futile gesture against an intractable government.

Focus on getting in shape, and on track

Instead of making much ado and wasting time fighting for his freedom against near impossible odds, Harapan leaders should instead focus on getting themselves in shape, and on track, to fight and win the coming 14th general election.

And getting themselves in shape and on track is a battle that Pakatan Harapan must focus on, if it ever hopes to win Putrajaya, for this new coalition is bogged down with many issues that remain unaddressed, with their leaders focusing instead on the myriad of campaigns to free Anwar.

As they do that, PKR remains trapped in vicious infighting, DAP struggles with an internal squabble between those seeking status quo who want the party to rely on their Chinese support and those seeking to open the party up to be one truly for all Malaysians, while Amanah still has not found its footing yet.

True that gimmicks such as freeing birds and sending microphones flying can be useful in garnering sympathy from the rakyat, but this won't do much in shoring up real support, especially when Harapan seems, more or less, still hopeless.

Harapan supporters whisper the Turkey formula, on how Recep Tayyip Erdogan ( photo ) too was once a political prisoner, prior to leading the nation that straddles Europe and the Middle East. This being the model that they hope can be used, once they win, and Anwar can be made prime minister.

But they forget that Erdogan's AKP harnessed its strength to win and then managed to remove the ban on Erdogan following his earlier conviction and imprisonment to allow him to retake his political seat, while they themselves are still not even a shadow of what they used to be during the opposition heydays of 2008.

If Harapan is to have any hope of freeing Anwar, it must first make sure that it is strong enough to win. To do that, Harapan should put away all petty things, as well as its factional infighting, and unite into one truly cohesive being.

Unfortunately, it can only come after some hard choices and difficult decisions are made. Something that Harapan, like its predecessor Pakatan Rakyat, seems to have some difficulty in achieving. At least, for now.

HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of the Malaysiakini Team.