The international community reacted swiftly. Amnesty International labeled Anwar a "prisoner of conscience." John Malott, a former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, called him "the world's most prominent political prisoner." Philippine President Joseph Estrada encouraged Anwar "to be unwavering in the cause he is fighting for." Said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook: "Aspects of the case give real cause for concern, in particular the relationship between the executive and judiciary in Malaysia."
Follow-up protests were held in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, but the more important question is whether Malaysians will vote for change in the next general elections, which must be held by mid-2000. In the aftermath of the verdict, it's not difficult to find people who say they will. "This is about justice," insists Azhari, a Kuala Lumpur blue collar worker. "I never voted before, but I'll be voting for Keadilan"--shorthand for the Parti Keadilan Nasional, or National Justice Party, recently formed by Wan Azizah Ismail, Anwar's ophthalmologist wife. But to many voters Mahathir continues to represent stability. "The Chinese are still predominantly supporting Mahathir," says an ethnic-Chinese accountant on the island state of Penang, "not because we like him but because he is good for business."
Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) has dominated Malaysian politics since independence by championing the cause of the Malay majority. Normally it would go into any such election with a massive advantage. But it isn't clear whether traditional electoral computations remain valid after the tumultuous events of the past seven-and-a-half months: Anwar's dismissal; the arrest and beating of the nation's second most powerful figure; a trial that tried to portray him as a sodomist and philanderer, complete with a semen-stained mattress dragged into court. (The evidence was discredited by the defense, and the prosecution later amended the sex charges.) Not to mention the creation of a new political movement calling for an end to nepotism and cronyism and headed by a wronged wife whose rallying cries are "reform" and "justice." True, Anwar and Mahathir once were part of the same clique ruling Malaysia. But Mahathir, who deserves credit for building Malaysia into one of the developing world's success stories, increasingly resembles a tragic hero well past the third act of the drama. "He has become afraid of losing power," says Puzi, a village shopkeeper in Perak state who has spent many evenings reading reformasi websites on the Internet for news about the Anwar trial. "He rules like someone drunk with power."
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