PKR expects its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim to be a free man by tomorrow afternoon, pending approval of his royal pardon.

He is slated to be released from the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment following a shoulder surgery, according to party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

“We have been made to understand that once the Pardons Board grants (Anwar) his full pardon, the pardon will go into effect there and then.

“Which means it will begin here (at the hospital) and he will be brought out. He will be able to walk out from here," Saifuddin told members of the press after visiting Anwar at the hospital today.

“We expect it will be in the afternoon, before we have our rally in Petaling Jaya,” he added.

Read more: Anwar scheduled to make first public appearance tomorrow

The Pardons Board will meet at 11am tomorrow to decide Anwar’s case. 

PKR has already called for a gathering at Padang Timur in Petaling Jaya to celebrate his release, and Anwar is slated to give his first speech in three years there at 11pm.

‘Anwar fit enough to go home’

Saifuddin added that one of the most important documents to facilitate Anwar’s pardon was a medical report vouching for his fitness for release.

Earlier, Dr S Jeyaindran, who heads the medical panel supervising Anwar’s health, expressed confidence in the latter’s health condition.

“I have already made sure of his health, he is in a healthy condition if he is released under a royal pardon (tomorrow).

“He is fit enough to go back home, but he will still have to come for regular physiotherapy on a scheduled basis which will be determined by the panel,” he told reporters after paying Anwar a visit at the hospital.