By Joe Fernandez

Keadilan gathers for its annual congress this weekend buoyed by several developments, still coming thick-and-fast, which suggest that events may yet place the fortunes of the infant party beyond what it perceives as the Machiavellian machinations of evil-doers.

A police report lodged mid-week by Keadilan's guiding spirit, sacked deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, against prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad packs a punch. The allegations: sheltering the corrupt and obstruction of justice.

Dr Mahathir's steadily dipping popularity took another blow this week when former Anti-Corruption Agency chief Shafie Yahya disclosed during Anwar's ongoing sodomy trial that Mahathir ordered him to close his investigation against Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman, former director-general of the powerful Economic Planning Unit. Ali was subsequently appointed Bank Negara governor on 1 Sept 1998, a day after Dr Mahathir sacked Anwar as his deputy. Ali retired two months ago.

There was more political capital for Keadilan on issues of corruption when MCA chief and transport minister Datuk Seri Ling Liong Sik, his eldest son Hee Leong and daughter-in-law Carol Ong Lee Choo were served notices by lawyers, acting on behalf of fugitive businessman Soh Chee Wen, demanding settlement of dues totalling RM150 million. Ling tendered his resignation as transport minister on May 22 in a melodramatic move, and subsequently changed his mind just as quickly after "a heart-to-heart talk with Dr Mahathir" and a brief vacation in Australia. Ling earlier gave the media a solemn pledge that rumours linking his resignation with his son's business problems and Soh were "an evil lie".

Corruption cases interest Keadilan. Anwar himself is currently serving a six-year jail term for the corrupt act of abusing his office by getting the police to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at him. He has repeatedly denied these and subsequent charges and says they were trumped up to end his political career.

Keadilan has made much of issues of nepotism, cronyism, corruption and collusion, and these continue to dominate the party's agenda for reform. Analysts can see why. Dr Mahathir's much ballyhooed Malaysia Incorporated concept, which envisions a collaborative partnership of public and private sectors, is seen in reality as nothing but "a camouflage for incestuous relationships between Umno, the Government and business."

"The cosiness of party, government and business contributes to the culture of corruption in Umno and Malaysia," says one analyst.Other revelations during Anwar's trial this week set the stage for the party meet by appearing to bolster the "conspiracy theory" floated by Anwar to explain his fall from grace. Hitherto, the conspiracy theory had remained just that, "a theory". Now, the revelations in court make it clear that a noticeable crack has appeared in the public façade maintained for nearly two years by Umno.

From lawyer Manjit Singh's statements in court, Dr Mahathir may have overseen matters related to Anwar which have a distinct bearing on the conspiracy theory. Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Ghani Patail, in one conversation with Manjit, told him: "Please bear in mind we have our reasons but there are still a lot of matters the prime minister (Dr Mahathir) wants to look into and there is the security side."

Manjit told the court that two of his clients, S Nallakarupan and Pakistani Dr Munawar Anees, were coerced by the police to sign prepared statements while in detention to implicate Anwar in sexual misconduct. The men were Anwar's tennis partner and speechwriter respectively. In Nalla's case, said Manjit, "the police employed classic interrogation techniques to break down his will," while with Munawar "the police used special classical techniques where they expanded upon his thought."

The Big Picture, initially fueled by the conspiracy theory, remains high on Keadilan's agenda for the weekend congress. How does the party cut the long gestation period needed to put in place an organisation that might reduce Umno's support and thus its ability to govern effectively? Members in Barisan Nasional component parties, feel Keadilan leaders, will be ripe for the picking as Umno becomes increasingly irrelevant.

Observers believe that the proposed merger between the four-decade-old Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and Keadilan is part of the continuing process of putting in place an organisational framework which with its Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition partners will penetrate the Malaysian vote bank both in breadth as well as depth.

The proposed merger cements a longstanding friendship between Anwar and his onetime university lecturer PRM President Dr Syed Husin Ali. A good portrait of this friendship and sketches of Anwar's basic character and personality emerges in Two Faces written by Dr Syed. The book covers the period he spent in detention without trial under the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA) along with Anwar and several others including some who are now in the government.

Said Dr Syed: "In principle, we agreed with the idea of a merger, and the congress has given the mandate of power to the central committee to carry on the process of negotiation and discussion in order to achieve the merger."

But, he added, there are still a number of issues to be resolved by both sides. "The PRM-Keadilan liaison meeting is still working on, for example, the type of constitution and organisational set up that should be established," he said. "If the details are finally worked out with Keadilan, the party will have another special congress to come to a final conclusion. I hope, and I believe, that Keadilan will arrive at the same conclusion."

The merger process is expected to take six months to a year, in time to face the forthcoming state elections in Sarawak where "the Malay vote bank seems to be ripe for the picking" in the absence of Umno and increasing disenchantment with the Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).PRM formed the Socialist Front in 1957 together with the Labour Party and bagged eight parliamentary seats in the 1959 general elections.Anwar himself, in an interview this week with web journalists, endorsed the PRM-Keadilan merger which according to him will be among the major resolutions up for debate at the latter's weekend meet.

"Both Keadilan and PRM share common ideals," he explained, "advocating reform, fighting injustice and abuse of power. Right from the beginning, both parties have had an excellent working relationship.

The merger would greatly benefit and enhance the reformasi movement"Dr Syed Husin Ali is a tested leader with a sense of conviction and impeccable track record as a reformist. Still, it has to be a marriage by mutual consent and not by compulsion. And I respect the wishes of members regardless of the outcome."

Anwar himself has an excellent track record as a political organiser who had his initial grounding in a Libya caught in the revolutionary fervour of Muammar Ghadafi. He subsequently built up the Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) almost single-handledly to parallel and eventually eclipse Umno Youth when he headed the latter organisation and completed its 'Abimisation' in his march towards the party's deputy presidency and the second-highest political office in the country.

Anwar's experience in political organisation comes in handy again as his wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah, steers Keadilan with her husband's blessings. Many observers even believe that Dr Wan Azizah is Anwar's favourite candidate for the prime minister's office should the Barisan Alternatif wrest the reins of power from the BN.

Keadilan is also expected to renew its commitment to the Barisan Alternatif partnership of reformist parties at this weekend's assembly. This inherent strength, say observers, was evident in the results of two recent by-elections.

In the Teluk Kemang (Negri Sembilan) parliamentary seat, Keadilan candidate Ruslan Kassim slashed the winning majority of the BN by half to a little over 5,000 votes, while taking the majority of the postal votes. This has sent shockwaves through the ruling coalition amid much soul-searching.

Keadilan, Umno leaders admit in private, has real claws. Earlier, in the Sanggang (Pahang) state seat, BN retained the seat by a 1,963-vote majority amid opposition allegations that 300 phantom voters were brought in from outside and a further 300 voters found their names missing from the electoral rolls.

As the beleaguered oppositionists gather in Selangor's Kelana Jaya for their second general assembly this weekend, the signals are strong that they are by no means a spent force.

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