KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — He is not in Parliament yet and is still putting finishing touches on a coherent Opposition in Malaysia but Time magazine have picked Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2008.
He shares the platform with the Dalai Lama, Hu Jintao, Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Aung San Suu Kyi, Rupert Murdoch, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and others.
This is the fifth annual list of leaders, thinkers, heroes, scientists, sports stars drawn up by the US news magazine. The de facto leader of Pakatan Rakyat is one of a clutch of Asians who were listed in the leaders and revolutionaries category. The format calls for a prominent individual to write a short essay about each person on the top 100 list.
Anwar’s citation was penned by Paul Wolfowitz, the former US Deputy Secretary of Defence. This is what he wrote:
"During the 1990s, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a group of US Senators organised a forum to exchange views among East Asians and Americans. Asked at one session about the role of Islam in politics, Anwar replied, 'I have no use for governments which call themselves Islamic and then deny basic rights to half their population.'
"This devout Muslim leader was an impressive and eloquent advocate of tolerance, democracy and human rights. So we were shocked by his arrest and trial in 1998 on charges of corruption and sodomy. I felt his real 'crime' had been to challenge Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose impressive record will be forever stained by his treatment of Anwar.
"I joined Senator Sam Nunn and others to speak out in Anwar's defence. When he was finally released from prison in 2004, US policy on Iraq was unpopular in Malaysia, and Anwar was harshly critical. It would have been easy for him to disown our friendship, but he is not that kind of person. He kept the channels of dialogue open, even while making clear our disagreements.
"Anwar, 60, is back in the centre of Malaysian politics. The coalition led by his wife Wan Azizah has become the main Opposition bloc. His future role can be determined only by Malaysians. One can hope that they will embrace his brand of tolerance, valuing dialogue across political differences, and that this courageous leader will continue to play a leading role on the world stage."
This recognition for Anwar comes at a time when he is still trying to stabilise the alliance between the DAP, PKR and Pas, and find a place for himself in the new political landscape of Malaysia. He was barred from contesting the election on March 8 because his conviction for abuse of power.
Over the years, Anwar has tried to fight off claims that he is a stooge of the United States and the West. That was one of the main planks in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s attack on Anwar after sacking him from government and Umno in 1998. More recently, Anwar has had to defend his ties with Wolfowitz, who resigned as the head of the World Bank in shame and is viewed as one of the hawks in the Bush administration which encouraged the US to invade Iraq in 2003.
Still, Anwar’s inclusion in the top 100 list shows how far he has managed to rehabilitate his reputation since his conviction on sodomy was overturned by the Federal Court in 2004. In Malaysia, he has been touted as the prime minister-in-waiting and abroad Anwar has recaptured the media headlines.
There is a clutch of individuals on the list who will raise eyebrows, including Baitullah Mahsud, the alleged mastermind of the Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
Time in its report said that he is known to be in his mid-30s and to lead thousands of militants, many of them Mehsud tribesmen, in Waziristan, a tribal region on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. In his first television interview, conducted by al-Jazeera last year, Mehsud said his ultimate aim is to attack New York City and London.
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